Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Dozens of events dedicated to food policy and the commitment of the Municipality of Milan and public and private partners to the promotion of a healthy and sustainable food system 
 
Milan, 28 April 2023 - Food policy as a tool to make cities more sustainable, capable of being close to those who need it most and at the same time active in the exchange of good practices to promote healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyles. 
The first Food Forum encompasses all this and much more, a week open to the city with events, meetings, workshops and visits to significant places in the city's food system.
The first of its kind, the Food Forum will promote widespread activities in the neighborhoods from 8 to 13 May 2023. 

Together with the Administration and the many interested citizens, there will be public partners, private profit and non-profit entities, third sector entities, universities and schools, investee companies and foundations that have given their contribution over the years. valuable contribution to the success of Food Policy projects, starting with the Cariplo Foundation which has supported the Municipality of Milan since its conception. 

“Launched in 2015 by the Municipality of Milan in collaboration with the Cariplo Foundation, the Food Policy is today one of the most innovative urban policies at an international level and is growing thanks
to the increasingly conscious involvement of citizens, associations, bodies and institutions, schools, the private sector, universities and the Third Sector - underlines the Deputy Mayor with responsibility for Food Policy Anna Scavuzzo -. Organizing the first 'Food Forum' therefore represents for us both a moment of giving back to the city the many important results achieved, and an opportunity to discuss the future and the projects to be developed together with our partners. So that Milan's Food Policy can grow thanks to the contribution of the whole city."

There are many intertwined threads that form a plot, that of the food policy carried out by the Municipality of Milan, which came to life starting from Expo 2015 and which has remained as an important legacy, growing and developing beyond the city borders also thanks to Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, today signed by 260 cities around the world and which commits mayors to work to make food systems sustainable, guarantee healthy and accessible food for all, preserve biodiversity, fight against waste, innovate food systems. 

During the week of the Food Forum we will also talk about the virtuous relationship between Milan and the other cities that share this commitment, and the many actions that have been developed over the years: the projects in schools and school and university canteens, the Neighborhood Hubs against food waste and the involvement of the many partners who have contributed to their diffusion, European projects such as Food Wave which involve dozens of children, girls and boys in the active and 'pop' promotion of healthy and sustainable lifestyles. Added to this are also the international events promoted by the Horizon Food Trails project of which Milan is the leader - such as the meeting on impact finance and the Matchmaking Day which connects local institutions, actors in the food system and investors with the best start-ups and SMEs to respond to the innovation challenges of the European food system - and the educational activities of the Horizon School Food 4 Change Project, in which the Municipality and Milano Ristorazione play an important role in the exchange of good practices in school meals. 

The Food Forum will open on Monday 8 May in the Feltrinelli Foundation, also an important player in the shared reflection on the future of sustainable food policies, with the Milanese girls and boys taking part in the community of the Food Wave project, in a dialogue between young people and institutions at the heart of the action to promote the food policies of the Municipality of Milan. 

With the same spirit of openness to the city and all its institutions, on Monday afternoon the City Council will meet in an extraordinary session during which the Special Envoy for Food Security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will intervene and will bring a very important contribution to the strategic action promoted by our country, with particular reference to the collaboration with the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and the Municipality of Milan. 

From 8 to 13 May there will be many widespread events which will also involve schools thanks to the contribution of Milano Ristorazione: from the 'A chef as a friend' initiative with visits to over 220 schools by the chefs of Milano Ristorazione who will meet the children during lunch time to answer their questions, at the delivery of over 70 thousand copies of 'Milano eats local', a booklet in which the Municipality of Milan and Milan Ristorazione tell the children and their families about the supply chains of the products on the menus schools for healthy and sustainable food and at the same time the natural and agricultural heritage that characterizes the city. With a surprise: on May 8th, to celebrate the value of the Milanese food tradition, Pan de Mej will be served as dessert in all schools, an ancient dessert flavored with dried elderflowers, the recipe of which has undergone a long process over the years. evolution and whose origins date back to the celebrations of the agricultural milk supply contracts that were stipulated in Milan in the XNUMXth century between herdsmen and milkmen.  
Also during the week of the Food Forum, the boys and girls who attend the educational services will be guests of some farms in the agricultural areas of Milan and of the Neighborhood Hubs, while a series of training webinars will be offered for educators and teachers.

The themes of healthy and sustainable food for everyone and the reduction of waste, foreseen as priorities of the Milanese Food Policy, will be entrusted to two separate events through the story of the experience of the Neighborhood Hubs and the significant results obtained over time with their growth and development and that of the food aid scheme implemented by the Municipality of Milan in collaboration with third sector partners and foundations. 

Speaking of young people, in addition to the opening event, the Forum also includes a moment of in-depth analysis with the Milanese universities to discuss the tools and methods of communication and dissemination of healthy and sustainable eating styles in the university context. 
The Milan market, Foody - SogeMi, will also host an event dedicated to the presentation of the markets and sustainable fishing. 
The first meeting of the "Dialogues for the environment - Planet food. Food, freedom and democracy" promoted by BAM - Library of trees, will also be held within the Forum programme, to address the topic of nourishment, while respecting the planet. 

Among the many actors participating in the events, some have also made their offices available to make this Forum open and widespread in the city, among these we would like to thank: Fondazione Feltrinelli, Cariplo Factory, Assolombarda, Bocconi University, Foody - SogeMi, BAM.

The complete program of events can be found here
https://foodpolicymilano.org/forum-del-cibo/   

https://foodpolicymilano.org/obiettivi/ 
www.foodwave.eu  
https://foodpolicymilano.org/milan-urban-food-policy-pact/