"A meeting in Rome this week is preparing the ground for September's summit where actions will be launched for healthier, greener ways to produce and consume food".

"BARCELONA - People don't agree on much when it comes to food. But most think how we produce it isn't working for everyone on the planet, nor for crucial natural systems vital to food production, including soils, water and the climate.

In response, an upcoming U.N. summit on food systems aims to curb damage to the environment and wildlife from what's on our plates, as well as tackle hunger made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate-heating emissions from agriculture and food waste.

Preparations for September's event, due to take place in New York, have already brought together governments, farmers, indigenous people, businesses, U.N. agencies and others to discuss ways of making food production fitter for the future.

A three-day meeting in Rome this week aims to distil some of the more than 2,000 ideas that have emerged from a series of dialogues around the world into a set of actions that the summit will endorse, to then be taken forward at a practical level."

Megan Rowling reports for the Thomson Reuters Foundation July 26, 2021. [2]