Food is critical to all of our lives. While developments in food systems have yielded many positive results, at their core, many of our food systems are profoundly unjust and have led to over 800 million people going hungry globally. Growing inequalities, biodiversity loss and climate change represent key threats to our future.
A sustainable food system lies at the heart of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition by 2030, major transformations of our food systems are needed. Indeed, to realize the SDGs, we need to tackle profound and systemic challenges to our food systems to ensure they are more productive, inclusive, environmentally sustainable, resilient, and capable of delivering healthy and nutritious diets for all.
Food derived from or produced in aquatic environments have a key role to play in achieving food security, ending malnutrition and building healthy, resilient food systems. These aquatic foods provide protein and essential micronutrients to a diversity of communities worldwide and often have comparatively low carbon footprints. Yet these foods are often neglected in food policy.
In this webinar, we brought together leading experts with a range of expertise in and perspectives on food systems to share their knowledge about and vision for sustainable, resilient and just food systems. The webinar also provided a forum to discuss responses and actions that are needed at individual, community and governmental levels to address this important topic.
Speakers
| Colette Wabnitz, Research Associate, Changing Oceans Research Unit, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries & Lead Scientist, Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University | Welcome and Introduction | |
| Michelle Tigchelaar, Research Scientist, Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University | "Challenges facing the future of blue foods" | |
| Rashid Sumaila, University Killam Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries | "Sustainable and just food systems" | |
| Maria "Deng" Palomares, Senior Scientist and Project Manager, Sea Around Us, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries | "Aquatic foods - promises and challenges" | |
| Sian Morgan, Certification/Sustainable Seafood consultant | "Alternative ‘Blue’ Foods" | |
| Tabitha Martens, Assistant Professor & Indigenous Scholar, UBC Land and Food Systems | "Indigenous food systems" |
Discussants:
- Sonia Strobel, co-founder, Skipper Otto Community Sustained Fishery
- Dr. Andrea Reid, Assistant Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries, and Principal Investigator, Centre for Indigenous Fisheries
Moderators:
- Allison Cutting, MSc student, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
- Meaghan Efford, PhD student, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries
Please note: Only the presentations and the comments from the two discussants were recorded. The Q&A session was not, to preserve privacy of the participants.