The first UN Food Systems Summit seeks a new recipe for the health of people and the planet

For the first time, the United Nations hosted a Food Systems Summit. At the event, world leaders joined forces to find innovative ways to produce healthy food for the growing global population without harming the planet. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), outlined several steps to accelerate the transformation toward a sustainable food system. These included strengthening action around the Rio Conventions on issues such as climate change, desertification, and biodiversity in agriculture and forestry; reorienting agricultural subsidies; and addressing the growing demand for cheap food in wealthy countries, which is driving intensive agriculture and moving farming away from nature's regenerative systems.