Food security and food sustainability have risen on the policy agenda in recent years at the same time as the globalization of food has deepened. In this context, the Department of Asian and International Studies has launched a new series with the backing of Rabobank entitled "The Future of Food: Seeking Sustainable Solutions". The series aims to expose audiences to innovative thinking and offer information to think through future food scenarios and especially the potential to design a more sustainable food system.
The opening online event on 11 March 2022 profiled the views of four thought leaders in conversation with each other and the moderator, Sonalie FIGUEIRAS of Green Queen. Each panelist was asked to present one recommendation that they consider paramount in reorienting food systems. Mark BITTMAN, an award-winning food writer, recommended regulating factory farming. Doris LEE, a key figure in China's alternative protein landscape, called for raising public awareness by investing in new proteins derived from plants and micro-organisms. Anna LAPPÉ, an expert on sustainability and justice along the food chain, stressed the need for social movements to hold governments and business accountable, citing recent cases where activism undid the financing of industrial farming projects. Clarissa WEI, a journalist based in Taiwan, proposed that we turn to local food systems, which are a better fit for our local environments, providing higher nutrients and freshness, and yielding less pollution.
In a format seen positively by the audience, the speakers were asked to probe the recommendations of their fellow panel members in a 30-minute open session. The result was a better sense of how more sustainable food systems can bridge local, regional and global elements. In the final section, students from CityU and several Hong Kong universities took part in a Q&A session, along with comments submitted in the chat box by the audience of practitioners and members of the general public. The video of the first event is available here.
The next event on 13 April 2022 will adopt the same format and bring together two distinguished veterans of debates on the food system, Temple Grandin and Peter Singer, along with an emerging voice on new approaches to food sustainability, Varun Deshpande. For those who are interested to join the event, please click here for registration.
