The food industry is one of the biggest industries in the world, and a key part of food production is family farms—the theme of this year’s World Food Day. Family farms play a significant role in eradicating hunger and poverty, providing food security and nutrition, improving livelihoods, managing natural resources, protecting the environment and achieving sustainable development, in particular in rural areas.
In celebration of World Food Day on the 16th of October, PRiMEtime is taking the opportunity to feature some of the initiatives that business schools have put in place to raise awareness about local food challenges, as well as celebrate local food.
Research
Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business has developed, through the David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership, the Food Abundance Index. This scorecard is used as a means to measure food security within a neighbourhood or geographic area. The index was created to determine the access to and availability of healthy, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food, and to eliminate “food deserts”—areas where healthy, affordable food is difficult to obtain.
University of California at Davis’s Olive Center, part of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, provides resources and research aimed in part to increase consumer and buyer awareness of determining quality and value in olive products, and to strengthen and promote the California Olive Oil Industry.
Seminars and Events
Duquesne University’s Centre for Green Industries and Sustainable Business Growth hosted restaurateurs, food service workers, local farmers and suppliers for a seminar focused on sustainable practices of the food industry. The event called, “Green Your Restaurant: Go for the Gold,” explored sustainable food sourcing and agriculture, marketing efforts and utilising green products.
Universum University College’s “Why Care” Campaign looked to start a public debate about fighting hunger in Kosovo. The project was implemented in cooperation with Universities Fighting World Hunger and the World Food Programme.
University of New South Wales supports the “Love Food Hate Waste” short film competition, to help raise awareness of the growing issue of food waste. Food waste accounts for half of a household’s water use, 40 percent of household waste and it also produces greenhouse gas emissions. The videos, between 30 seconds and 5 minutes, show the world what it means to celebrate a healthy and sustainable love of food. You can view the winning videos here.
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