Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Milan, October 9 2019 – The members of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact met in Montpellier, from 7 to 9 October, on the occasion of the 5th annual meeting of the MUFPP. Over 300 participants including cities and experts discussed and updated on experiences and knowledge of sustainable food systems and local practices for building partnerships for development. The focuses were the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda in relation to food systems.

The Milan Pact involves the mayors of 205 cities around the world, who consider food as a key aspect for the sustainable development of cities, particularly the most populous ones, and is constantly growing in terms of membership, representing a unique context for all the subjects active in the definition of innovative policies on food systems at urban level, with regards to management but also governance. The objective of the Pact is to share knowledge and experiences on food systems for the construction of inclusive and truly sustainable cities.

The annual meeting was also an opportunity to take stock of the action monitoring system, which was designed by FAO experts and which cities are using to verify the impacts and effectiveness of their actions and programs, and for the ceremony award ceremony in the Pouget Castle of the Milan Pact Awards, promoted by the Municipality of Milan and the Cariplo Foundation, the main partner in the implementation of the Food Policy at local level: 104 good practices on food presented from all over the world, among which were chosen the eight to which monetary prizes and special mentions will be awarded in the 6 areas of commitment, including governance, healthy and sustainable diets, food production, waste reduction.

Participation in this edition of the Awards was very high both in numbers - from around 50 good practices in previous years to 104 in 2019 - and in the geographical distribution of the cities: 45 practices from Europe, 23 from Latin America, 20 from Africa, 9 from the United States and 7 from Asia. The surprising result of Africa and Latin America can also be attributed to the two regional forums organized by the MUFPP, which is working for the ever-increasing involvement of cities at an international level.

“Large participation and notable quality in the good practices presented: a clear sign of the seriousness with which cities address the issue of sustainability of urban food systems – states the deputy mayor of the Municipality of Milan with responsibility for Food Policy Anna Scavuzzo – in an international framework that has as its reference the SDGs, the sustainable development goals, promoted by the United Nations. Mayors carry out concrete actions and seek resources to support them by involving all their fellow citizens. The priorities of the 2030 Agenda are now familiar to our cities which experience the link between the sustainability of the food system, respect for the environment and the well-being of people. Fight against food poverty and food waste, healthy and balanced diets, quality agriculture and low environmental impact logistics: we talked about this and much more in Montpellier. Milan confirms itself as a leading city on these issues and continues its commitment to facilitating the processes of change in the daily habits of communities. The declaration signed in Montpellier strengthens the action of the Cities and their role in the wake of the SDGs".

“Fondazione Cariplo has participated in the Milan Pact Awards since their conception – comments the Director of the Scientific Research and Technology Transfer Area of ​​Fondazione Cariplo, Carlo Mango –, having contributed to defining the very idea that guides the Awards. With originality and simplicity, the MPAs represent a point of excellence among the international awards for good food practices and have guaranteed to collect over 250 practices from all over the world in these few editions. The cities awarded each year have used the monetary prize to replicate and transfer their good practices to other cities and at the Cariplo Foundation we are very proud to be able to say that overall the Awards have contributed to the diffusion and development of food policies throughout the world, facilitating the path towards a more sustainable future”.

The Milan Pact Awards jury is made up of 10 members representing international organisations, institutions, civil society and research organizations and has conducted a long and detailed process of analysis of the practices, which were collected until the end of May 2019.

The two monetary prizes, worth 15.000 euros each - to be spent on the implementation of peer-to-peer exchange activities between the cities signatory to the Pact - were won by Washington (USA), for having achieved the highest score in all categories, and Mezitli (Turkey), for best practice in the 'Challenging Environment' category. The city of Washington has developed a program called 'Good Food Purchasing in Washington, DC' which provides subsidies to purchase food at local fresh fruit and vegetable markets to those who participate in government health programs: the initiative has achieved 9500 people, especially low-income residents, catalyzing public and private resources. Mezitli, the first Turkish city to participate in the Pact and the Awards, developed an action called 'Mezitli Women Producers Market', which aimed to reduce gender barriers at work and expand the possibilities of accessing local markets: the initiative allowed us to strengthen the skills of 650 women and enable them to sell in 9 local markets.

Finally, the 6 special mentions were awarded to Tel Aviv (Israel) for the 'Governance' category, to Kazan (Turkey), for the 'Sustainable diets and nutrition' category, to Nairobi (Kenya), for the 'Social and economic equity', in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), for the 'Food production' category, in Montpellier (France), for the 'Food supply and distribution' category, and in Sao Paulo (Brazil), for the 'Food waste' category .  

The 5th annual meeting of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact will close today with the presentation of the Montpellier Declaration to align Food Policies with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda to which, in addition to the first signatures of the Mayor of Montpellier and the deputy mayor of Milan, other 91 cities have already joined. The 6th and 7th meetings will take place respectively in Merida, Mexico (2020) and in Barcelona, ​​Spain (2021).