Keynote of prof.dr.ir Han Wiskerke
Cities as well as rural areas face a number of food-related challenges, such as the share of the food system in the ecological footprint, food waste, the disruptive impact of climate change on food harvests and food distribution, social inequalities in access to and affordability of food and diet-related ill-health. These challenges are interrelated and therefore require an integrated approach. The city-region is the most appropriate level to deal with these food-related challenges as it is the level of scale at which collective action by relevant stakeholder is feasible and as it aligns with the overall process of decentralising policy implementation and administrative responsibilities. Towards this end it is important to develop a city-region food policy that addresses (several) food-related challenges in an integrated manner. A (deputy) mayor should be politically responsible for such a food policy, preferably supported by an inter-departmental group of civil servants (see for example Belo Horizonte in Brazil) and a food policy council composed of multiple stakeholders (see Toronto in Canada). In this respect a lot can be learned from cities and city-regions that are signatories of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact.