+300 participants from 39 different countries worked together for a sustainable future food system!
FEBA Annual Convention 2021 “For a sustainable future food system” was organized by the European Food Banks Federation in collaboration with Ceska Federace Potravinovych Bank and took place online on 6-7 May 2021.
FEBA Annual Convention 2021 has been recognised as a UN Food Systems Independent Dialogue and wanted to offer opportunities for all participants to engage directly in proposing pathways towards sustainable food systems, exploring new ways of working together and encouraging collaborative actions. The outcomes of the FEBA Annual Convention 2021 will be written down in a report and submitted to the United Nations as a contribution to the UN Food Systems Summit.
COVID-19 has placed the global economy under tremendous strain. While throwing many people into food insecurity overnight, this crisis has highlighted the importance of food security in Europe.
Since their first establishment, FEBA members have daily worked facing the challenge not just to prevent food waste but also to ensure its safe delivery and redistribution to charities helping people in need. Adaptation to change is the nature of Food Banks and the creativity and systemic thinking emerged during the 2 days of Annual Convention. All food businesses operators are pieces of a single picture representing the food systems and Food Banks are pivotal and fundamental actors.
DAY 1 (6 May 2021)
The kick-off of the FEBA Annual Convention 2021 was made by Jacques Vandenschrik (FEBA President), Veronika Láchová (CEO, Ceska Federace Potravinovych Bank), Claire Bury (Deputy Director-General, DG Health and Food Safety, European Commission), the Deputy Minister of Environment from Czech Republic and a video message from Nicola Dixon (Executive Director, General Mills Foundation).
The FEBA Annual Convention coninued with a high-level panel with distinguished guests from European and nternational institutions and the research and academia world. In fact, Anne-Laure Gassin (DG SANTE, European Commission), Loris Di Pietrantonio (DG EMPL, European Commission) and Maximo Torero Cullen (FAO) presented the institutional framework and the future challenges where the Food Banks can play a crucial role. Furthermore, Roberta Sonnino (University of Cardiff) and Liz Goodwin (WRI) outlined the transformation of the food system and the potential empowerment of Food Banks.
The first day ended with a panel discussion on concrete actions from Czech Republic with contributions from the Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Czech Republic, the CEO of PENNY Czech Republic and the regional Director of Nadeje (Hope) a charitable organization working with the Ceska Federace Potravinovych Bank.
DAY 2 (7 May 2021)
During the morning of the second day almost 100 FEBA members and external guests participated in a creativity workshop (organised by Altisensi) with the aim of thinking out of the box! Then, participants were split into 6 different working tables on Data collection & digital transformation, Corporate Partnerships, Rethinking the Foodbanking Narrative, Young Generations for a sustainable future food system, Volunteering and New boundaries for food redistribution. The outcomes of the Working Tables were presented by the facilitators at the beginning of the afternoon.
The FEBA Annual Convention 2021 ended with an International Panel with high level contributions from CAF America, European Food Banks Federation, Feeding America, The Global FoodBanking Network and General Mills Foundation followed by the closing remarks of FEBA President and the Deputy Director-General of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission.
Do you want to know more? FEBA Team is updating the dedicated webpage with materials, PPT presentations, summaries and abstracts, video recordings and much more on annualconvention.eurofoodbank.org.
