Let’s Talk Food Industry Sustainability

Danielle Nierenberg

Danielle Nierenberg

London Climate Action Week, coming up at the end of this month, is one of my favorite—sorry, favourite!—weeks of the year. 

Why? Because of one very important word in the name of the event: action. Alongside clear-eyed conversations on the serious challenges we face, this is what we truly need right now: People from diverse backgrounds all coming together to focus their energy like a laser beam on climate and food system action!

This month, we’re heading back to London for our sold-out 2nd annual Summit there, plus an exciting participatory workshop we hope you’ll join (more info HERE). Our programming is fine-tuned to prioritize not only listening and learning but finding creative ways to make climate action integral to our lives. 

Presented with our partners at Google Cloud, the UN Environment Programme, and Unilever, “Chief Sustainability Officers Summit: Building the Future of the Food System” is exclusively targeted toward high-level decisionmakers within the food industry, and will be attended by a sold-out group of 180+ CSOs and other leaders selected by invitation only.

With so much global food system power in one room together, we’re not taking the easy way out. We’re looking forward to having tough, big-picture conversations that will push for industry action on climate, food waste, and regenerative soils—and transform the role of the private sector in the well-being of the global food system. 

The Summit starts at 12:30 PM London time on Thursday, June 26, at Google London–Central Saint Giles. You can email Kenzie at Kenzie@FoodTank.com if you were invited and have questions!

Part of the goal of this fast-paced, interactive event is to help food business leaders hear directly from some of the most insightful farmers, scientists, business leaders, advocates, chefs, and other experts who can push them to think differently and focus their influence on meaningful solutions.  

This amazing group of speakers includes: Darina Allen, Ballymaloe Cookery School; Rami Baitiéh, Morrisons; Emma Banks, Hilton; Helen Clarkson, The Climate Group; Sam Dennigan, Strong Roots, The Plant Room Holdings; Ruth Do Coutto, UN Environment Programme; Anya Doherty, FoodSteps; Amal Gomersall, Citi Foundation; Simon Hall, Google Cloud; Jade Hoai, Whole Foods Market; Patrick Holden, Farmer, Sustainable Food Trust; Kristin Hughes, Diageo; Andrew Hunt, Aduna Superfoods; Pawel Kisielewski, CCm Technologies Limited; Brent Loken, WWF Global Science; Hunter Lovins, Regenerative Rancher, Future Economy Forum; Nick Mabey, London Climate Action Week, E3G; Adalberto Maluf, Brazil National Secretary of Urban Environment and Environmental Quality; Jay McEntire, Arva; Pat Mitchell, TEDWomen; Clementine O’Connor, UNEP; Michael Okoroafor, McCormick & Company; Jehiel Oliver, Hello Tractor; Christopher Ramsay, Pelican Ag; Sacha Savory, Singer/Performer; Dorothy Shaver, Unilever; Eric Smith, Edacious; Jinal Surti, Epoch.blue; Richard Swannell, WRAP; Jess Tausig, Winnow; Daniella Vega, Ahold Delhaize; Philipp Wagnitz, Lidl International; and Dr Helena Wright, FAIRR.

And if you’re in town for London Climate Action Week, I hope to see you on Friday, June 27, when we’re partnering with our friends at EIT Food and Regen House for a dynamic workshop called “Regenerative Food Systems—Scaling Impact from Soil to Shelf.” 

Trust me: This is going to be cool. Regen House’s events are completely unlike traditional panel discussions, and together, we’ll all get creative in moving beyond buzzwords and into action. We’ll all be sitting in concentric circles and, instead of a distinction between panelists and audience, experts and participants will all move around within these circles as we reflect, share, and hold ourselves accountable.

Farmers, scientists, policymakers, business leaders, activists, academics, and cultural changemakers—like Food Tankers!—will explore all of our roles in renegerating not only land but also trust, equity, and accountability across the whole food system.

The list of confirmed experts includes: Darina Allen, Ballymaloe Cookery School; Tatiana Campos, ProVeg UK; Mercedes Groba, EIT Food; Tom Hunt, The Guardian; Mark Kaplan, Wholechain; Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein, Imperial College London; Aditi Mukherji, CGIAR; Anna Müller, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT; Elinor Newman-Beckett, FOLU; David Pettet, Nomad Foods; Ingmar Rentzhog, We Don't Have Time; Christian Reynolds, City University; Baroness Kate Rock; Marta Sas, Certified Origins; Jyoti Stephens, Nature’s Path Foods; Anna Taylor, Food Foundation; Fabio Volkmann, Climate Farmers; and so many more to be announced!

Tickets are FREE, and you can register by CLICKING HERE. Because of the nature of the event, space is very limited, so you should register ASAP!!

If you'll be in the U.K. later this month for London Climate Action Week, be sure to drop me a note at danielle@foodtank.com and say hello at our events.

And of course, climate action is not confined to just one week or one city. Wherever you are in the world, let’s all use London Climate Action Week as an inspiration and reminder to spend time building more climate-smart food systems in our own communities!

(Danielle Nierenbergis the President of Food Tank and can be reached at danielle@foodtank.com)