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Published: 21 July 2014
International panel to provide evidence-based advocacy on sustainable food
An international panel on sustainable food systems (IPES-Food) co-chaired by Professor Olivier de Schutter, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has been launched with the support of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation. The Foundation was established in 2010 in memory of Daniel Carasso, founder of Danone in France and Dannon in the USA, and his wife. It supports sustainable food systems and art projects.
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Olivier de Schutter, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, completed his mandate with the UN in May 2014 and will now co-chair a new international panel on sustainable food systems. Credit:
UN Geneva, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. BY-NC-ND 2.0
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The new panel will engage in evidence-based advocacy on sustainable food systems and diets. At least 75 per cent of its members will be internationally recognised scientists from disciplines such as ecology, environment nutrition, food sociology, and food production and consumption. Other members will be actors on the ground such as representatives of consumer associations and other civil society organisations.
IPES-Food will provide policy makers, the private sector and the public with the evidence to guide a transition towards sustainable food systems and diets. The Foundation believes that a long-term outlook (at least five years) is particularly important for such a complex, comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach that has not yet been widely recognised or adopted.
Finalising his mandate as UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food in May 2014, Prof. de Schutter said he would be looking forward to helping put IPES-Food on track.
'Food systems are being fundamentally reformed, and alternatives are emerging to the mainstream food system: it is more important than ever that decisions are made on the basis of the best science available,' he said.
Prof. de Schutter will co-chair the panel with Dr Olivia Yambi, nutritionist and former UNICEF representative to Kenya.
More information from the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation (PDF)
Source: Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation and Office of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
