Food insecurity and undernutrition are the most serious and common manifestations of protracted crises, which disrupt both livelihoods and food systems. Although each protracted crisis is different, underlying causes include some combination of conflict, occupation, terrorism, man-made and natural disasters, natural resource pressures, climate change, inequalities, prevalence of poverty, and governance factors. In a future world with a projected population of 9.7 billion people by 2050 and 11 billion people by 2100, proactive food security is one of the greatest challenges to our ingenuity, creativity, and adaptability.
The Committee on World Food Security (CFS) reports to the UN General Assembly. It consists of members of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Program (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in conjunction with civil society (e.g., small-holder farms and fisheries), NGOs, and philanthropic foundations. The mission of CFS is to identify and resolve the challenges to global food security. To this objective, CFS has identified a framework of 11 Principles for action.
Our meal tonight has been conceived to promote and highlight Principle 10(33): Mitigate the effects of natural and man-made disasters, adapt to climate change, and promote sustainable use of natural resources.
There are several approaches we wish to examine: expanded use of existing space through hydroponic technology (greenhouses, vertical farming, drip agriculture), enhanced traditional husbandry, and biotech/genetically modified initiatives.
Your starter salads were grown right here in NYC, in high tech greenhouses in Brooklyn and Queens. Gotham Greens operates nearly 170,000 square feet of greenhouses that provide year-round local, organic, pesticide-free produce to customers in New York and Chicago.
Interestingly, a warming ocean results in benefits to some species, including cephalopods. Your calamari is wild-caught, and this is not only sustainable but will likely become a seafood staple for both diners and the commercial fishing industry.
Your Oaxacan Mole Chili is more exotic, combining sustainable fair-trade cacao; mass-agriculture beans; ultra-pasturized tomatoes and peppers; and Quorn, a vegan myco (mushroom) protein that provides more fiber, minerals, and protein per gram than meat. Quorn has also been proven to lower LDL (heart attack) and glycemic (diabetes) risk.
The dates used in your dessert are produced in Israel using advanced breeding, water-restrictive selection techniques and drip irrigation.
- Mixed green salad with tomatoes
- Crispy-jacketed calamari, Chinese style
- Oaxacan Mole Chili con Quorn; plantains
- Vegan Snickers