Sustainable Food

Barcelona earned an honourable mention at the Milan Pact Awards 2022, held at the 8th MUFPP Global Forum in Rio de Janeiro. The city was recognised in the Food Distribution and Infrastructure category, along with the cities of Paris, Los Angeles, Araraquara, Curitiba and Guelphas. The Commissioner for Social Economy, Local Development and Food Policy, Álvaro Porro, was tasked with receiving the award.

Barcelona has been part of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact since 2015 and this is the sixth time the city has taken part in the awards. In 2022, the city decided to focus on matters relating to food distribution and infrastructure by presenting its Green Commerce project.

Commissioner Álvaro Porro explained that “the city of Barcelona has been striving for a change in our food system for years, and last year we were able to show this to the world by hosting activities as the World Sustainable Food Capital”, adding “the honourable mention is recognition of Barcelona’s efforts to drive the transformation of the food system and add vitality to new economies which improve the health of people and the planet”.

The most important message to come from Rio de Janeiro was that cities are active and are committed in their efforts to tackle the climate emergency and drive climate justice through an overhaul of the food system. With over 250 good practices gathered by the MUFPP secretariat between April and June this year, the 6th edition of the Milan Pact Awards was one of the most attended editions of the event. Once again, this clearly shows the growing importance of food policies in Mayoral agendas. Over sixty cities outlined practices for the first time at the forum, showing that year after year the members of the MUFPP have a growing need to share their experiences and challenges with other cities.

The Milan Pact Awards were launched by the city of Milan and the Fondazione Cariplo in 2016 and are still the most powerful tool for innovation in food policies for the 250 signatory cities around the world.

The prize for these cities will be a mission to Milan to attend the first meeting of the winners of the Milan Pact Awards, an opportunity for the cities in question to jointly develop all the mechanisms for adapting and replicating winning practices within the Milan Pact community.

The Milan Pact Awards offer a look at how the efforts of many cities around the world focus on changing their food systems to be healthier and more sustainable, at the same time mitigating the effects of climate change which are having an impact on the whole food system: from production to distribution and consumption.

250 cities from around the world have decided to form part of the Milan Pact, the goal being to change their local contexts and promote greater equality, health and access to safe nutritious food. This is the effort needed by governments to achieve the goals set out in the UN 2030 Agenda.

The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact – MUFPP

The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact is the main legacy from the Expo Milan 2015, “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. The pact is an agreement signed by 250 mayors from around the world to “develop sustainable food systems which are inclusive, resilient, safe and diverse, to provide healthy and affordable food to all in a framework based on human rights and which minimises waste and preserves biodiversity, mitigating the impact of climate change”. Its main aim is to provide support for cities wishing to develop more sustainable food systems through cooperation and the exchange of good practices.