Sharing our ambitions, nurturing transformations: a look back at the 4th Sustainable Food Meetings

The^4th Sustainable Food Meetings have returned to a classic format, after a 2021 edition disrupted by the Covid-19 crisis. While the latter seems to be behind us, it has had a strong impact on food and agricultural issues, on the one hand heightening the need to change models, and aggravating alarming food insecurity on the other. These new Meetings therefore came at the right time to take stock of the situation and redraw a horizon of change that is both desirable and realistic.

An appetite for sharing and debate

At the opening of these ^4th Sustainable Food Meetings, Benoît Mounier-Saintoyant, Managing Director of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, set the tone: “We must do bigger things that are beyond us. It is time for action, for cooperation, and to do this we must all put our egos aside. »

Has it paid off? Mostly! First of all, by the number of participants: 500 people from all over France met at the Cité universitaire internationale de Paris, and nearly 2,000 followed the day by video. By the diversity of profiles as well: associative actors, farmers, researchers, students, public actors, local elected officials, entrepreneurs, actively mixed their voices and their reflections – sometimes contradictory, often passionate, always eager to contribute to change. Finally, by the content of the exchanges: 4 plenary sessions and 11 thematic focuses made it possible to embrace some of the most important issues we face, and the challenges that the actors must or are facing.

The programme of this eagerly awaited^4th Annual Conference, structured around the three key themes of agroecology, food democracy and territories, made it possible to combine approaches – from utopia to pragmatism, from the individual to the collective, from cooperation to self-management, from the public to the private, from the living to technology, from the economy to culture, etc. This new edition fulfilled the objective of nourishing rich, generous exchanges, respectful of the words expressed in their great and necessary diversity. The user-friendliness of the format fostered a climate of trust conducive to the sharing of experiences and plural points of view, including in a more informal way.

In the end, “these meetings were an opportunity to remember both the scale and seriousness of the challenges facing us, but also the commitment, determination and competence of a rich, varied and inspiring ecosystem, whose ability to cooperate is the keystone of the transition,” said Linda Reboux and Hugo Menestret of the Banque des Territoires. They have given new impetus to strengthen the common ambition to profoundly transform agricultural and food systems, and to accelerate the pace on trajectories imagined together.

The proceedings of the Conference, support for a desirable future

The Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation had wanted to place this^4th edition under the sign of the future, and therefore of the youth, “the first to be affected by all these upheavals”, announced Benoît Mounier-Saintoyant. “We want to give them the space to imagine the world they want to live in, and to carry out the transformations to bring about this desirable future.” So it was not a question of talking about young people for them, but of co-constructing this day with them and entrusting them with the floor. Several students or young professionals were able to share their personal or collective experiences, and share their desires, projects and perspectives in terms of sustainable food.

As these Meetings are intended to be a milestone towards this future in construction, the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation is today publishing the proceedings of this^4th Sustainable Food Meeting. Our wish is to record and value the strong words expressed during the day. And there have been many of them, on subjects as crucial as agricultural land, the installation of farmers, the commons, the right to food, food democracy, food environments and the commitment of territories through territorial food projects.

These subjects, and others, have been extensively explored, analysed and discussed. We hope that the various actors present have emerged strengthened in their motivations and ambitions, and enriched by cross-reflections that broaden perspectives and expand the field of action. The proceedings of the Rencontres offer a synthesis, or rather syntheses, because in addition to highlighting the words of the speakers, the publication exhibits a selection of visual creations made live during the event: graphic syntheses, photographs, candid illustrations. So many footprints that constitute landmarks for the action to come, and allow us to set a date.

The Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation invites you to continue these rich exchanges during the 2nd ^{Territorial Conference on Agroecology and Sustainable Food, which will be held in Montpellier on December 2 and 3, 2024. This event, of which the Foundation is a partner, is part of a shared dynamic around sustainable food. The information will be posted online in 2024 on the https://assises-agroecologie-alimentation.fr website.}

Photo credits: Nicolas Lascourrèges, La company

Cartoon credits: Tommy Dessine