Fixing the Business of Food: The Food Industry and the SDG Challenge

In collaboration with the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the Santa Chiara Lab of the University of Siena, CCSI presented its first report on Fixing the Business of Food. The document, part of a two-year effort, highlights the sustainable development challenge faced by the food industry. By proposing a Four Dimension framework, the report asks four overarching questions for companies in the food sector to address alignment with the SDGs: 1) Does the company contribute to healthy and sustainable dietary patterns through its products and strategy? 2) Are the company’s production processes economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable? 3) Are the company’s global supply chains sustainable? 4) Is the company a good corporate citizen? After an initial analysis of ten major companies in the food industry, the report makes a series of recommendations that will be addressed through this collaboration. Under this project, the partners expect to engage with industry leaders, and to consult with representatives of key reporting standards, monitoring agencies, and academic disciplines to help build a consensus on best practices, reporting standards, and supply-chain monitoring to address the areas identified and highlighted in the report. A summarized version is available here: http://ccsi.columbia.edu/files/2019/08/Alignment-with-SDGs.pdf