Why the UN’s first food systems summit last week ‘categorically failed’
The United Nations convened a major summit last week to address challenges in the global food system, from hunger and inequity to food waste and climate change. The meeting was the culmination of 18 months of work and was supposed to be a big step in working toward the UN’s sustainable development goals, but it has come under intense criticism for giving too much voice to corporations and businesses. The event was boycotted by hundreds of civil society organizations, scientists, and indigenous groups. One big complaint, writes Civil Eats, is that the summit focused too much on technology and business as solutions to the world’s food problems, when many argue that those same businesses are part of the problem. In a sign of how bad it got, the UN’s own independent expert on the right to food posted a video before the summit even began, saying that the event had already “categorically failed” because it focused on boosting food production rather than people’s daily struggles.
