Colombia’s capital city Bogotá and the city of Kyoto in Japan have joined the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Food initiative to promote a circular economy for food.
The two global metropoles are now among a group of more than a dozen cities that are participating in the landmark initiative in order to:
- regenerate natural systems
- tackle climate change
- generate new business opportunities
- create healthy cities
The initiative is focused on mobilising the vision laid out in the Cities and Circular Economy for Food report, that sets out three main ambitions for a positive food system transformation.
- Source food grown regeneratively and locally where appropriate – Replacing industrial farming with practices that closely emulate nature will improve the overall health of local ecosystems, diversify the food supply to increase resilience, reduce packaging needs, and shorten supply chains.
- Make the most of food – Cities play a crucial role in keeping food at its highest value and eliminating waste. They can become hubs for the redistribution of surplus foods and for a thriving bio-economy where food by-products are transformed into organic fertilisers, biomaterials, medicines, and bioenergy.
- Design and market healthier food products – We can change food design and marketing to reshape our preferences and habits. This will ensure that healthy products become easily accessible, while valuable nutrients circulate back to the soil safely.
The Food initiative aims to empower cities to take advantage of their demand, convening, and regulatory powers to overhaul the food system that serves them. There are currently three partner cities – London, New York, and São Paulo, working to demonstrate the economic, environmental, and social benefits of circular food systems. Other cities, such as Kyoto and Bogotá, closely follow the project with a view to applying its learnings locally.
Kyoto joined the Food initiative upon the invitation of Japan’s Mizkan Holdings, which is a member of the advisory board of the Food initiative.
The city of Bogotá is honoured to be part of the Food initiative and benefit from a worldwide network of experts and best practices. [Bogotá City Hall’s Habitat Agency] has the important goals of implementing urban agriculture to increase community-led activities, preventing informal settlements and protecting the environmental sustainability of the city borders and eastern hills, while providing food security and economic alternatives to the vulnerable population of Bogotá. To accomplish our ambitious projects, we’d like to attract leading edge knowledge and resources, as well as share our experiences with the Food initiative.
