NYU Steinhardt Professor Lisa Sasson is helping to organize a Sustainable Food Systems conference at Tel Aviv University, Israel on 20-21 June. Sponsored by the Manna Center Program for Food Safety and Security at Tel Aviv University, the Israeli Forum for Sustainable Nutrition, and New York University, the conference will unite students and experts to discuss food safety, sustainability, nutrition, and public policy. NYU involvement and support includes participation from NYU Steinhardt, the Provost’s Global Research Initiatives program, and NYU Tel Aviv.
The conference will enable participants to learn from and interact with renowned academic experts, government officials, industry leaders, and activists in the global and local food movement.
Sustainable food systems takes into account environmental, health, social and economic concerns in the production and consumption of food. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the UN, “Sustainable Diets are those diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations. Sustainable diets are protective and respectful of biodiversity and ecosystems, culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable; nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy; while optimizing natural and human resources”. Sustainable diets are the outcome of sustainable food systems.
The aim of the conference is to draw on the themes of sustainability and food security, public policy, nutrition, and food justice, by bringing students and experts involved in these topics. The outcome will enable tackling the question of how best to integrate sustainability in our food system.