Laying Down Tracks podcast

 

We are laying down tracks to head into a new world where our food systems mean prosperity for people and the planet.

Together, the UN Food Systems Summit and Sourcing Matters launch their new and thought-provoking podcast series, Laying Down Tracks.

This inspiring 9-part miniseries, led by Aaron Niederhelman, will feature world experts on issues related to world hunger, malnutrition, climate change, and much more. Focused on the real experiences of rolling out the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, each episode will bring forward solutions through motivating discussions.

Food is our most intimate connection to nature. Listen now to Laying Down Tracks to learn how you, too, can help save our planet.

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8-PART MINISERIES

 

Laying Down Tracks Episode 8 with Agnes Kalibata

What better way to finish off the UNFSS Pre-Summit than to listen to the last episode of the Laying Down Tracks series with guest and UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit, Dr. Agnes Kalibata. This episode touches on a lot of ground but focuses on the importance of the summit being a “peoples' summit” and on the significance of having all voices be part of the Summit process to achieve true food systems transformation and meet all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Whatever problem a country or community is struggling with there is a solution to match. “The fact that too many people are going hungry does not mean that we aren’t producing enough. The challenge is in the inequities that live in our food systems. Through the solution clusters we have been able to mobilize and identify game changing ideas that have been consolidated into 52 solutions,” says Dr. Kalibata as she describes how these innovative solutions can help solve specific challenges in Food Systems.

Don’t miss this last episode on the importance of all actors coming together for true food system transformation and learn more about Dr. Kalibata’s journey on how she came to be so passionate about helping bring this change.

:: Aaron Niederhelman with Dr. Agnes Kalibata

Listen on: Apple  |  Spotify  |  Google

Laying Down Tracks Episode 7 with Paul Polman

“If you work in silos you will never get these changes implemented because the farmer can’t afford it, but if big corporations come to work together across the value chain; you create value at a different level,” says influencer, businessman and campaigner, Paul Polman. This latest episode is all about how to build a food system that’s dedicated to nutrition and health of people and the planet.

Joining in this conversation is Chef, writer, and regenerative food system advocate, Chantelle Nicholson, who talks about the importance of consciousness as the first step and asking questions on where do you buy your food and how many plants are you eating a week, as something we can all do to bring in more good food for all.

Listen to this conversation with Paul, Chantelle, and host Aaron Niederhelman as they discuss how we can achieve good for the people and planet, as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

:: Aaron Niederhelman with Paul Polman and Chantelle Nicholson

Listen on: Apple  |  Spotify  |  Google

Laying Down Tracks Episode 6 with Ruth Richardson

Hope and true collaboration will help drive food system change and stabilize our planet. “Different people have different ways of thinking of food systems and that’s why I am such an advocate on building these systems on values and principles. This is what is going to lead us to a much more hopeful future,” says the Co-host and Executive Director for the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and Chair of the Food Systems Champions Network, Ruth Richardson. This latest episode is all about diverse interests coming together to produce food for all corners of the planet. Food system transformation requires a true multi-stakeholder initiative to really make it work.

Joining in this conversation as guest is the Founder and Executive Chairperson at Javara, and a Food Systems Champion, Helianti Hilman who talks about the importance of building the whole supply chain on true collaboration, diversity, inclusion, and respectful relationships with farmers and producers to create true system change.

Listen to this conversation with Ruth, Helianti and host Aaron Niederhelman as they discuss how food systems connect us all and must be built on values to lead us all to a much more hopeful future, as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

:: Aaron Niederhelman with Ruth Richardson and Helianti Hilman

Listen on: Apple  |  Spotify  |  Google

Laying Down Tracks Special Episode for World Refugee Day

It’s World Refugee Day and we are bringing to you a special encore episode to tune into. This episode touches on the importance of creating an environment of self-reliance for the more than 80 million people displaced worldwide – approximately the population of Germany. “People leave their home because of food insecurity and then results in even more food insecurity because they cannot produce anymore,” says the Assistant High Commissioner of Operations at the UNHCR, Raouf Mazou.

Episode guest and WFP Assistant Executive Director, Valerie Newsom Guarnieri, similarly echoes the importance of creating self-reliance: “A big problem for a lot of refugees is access to land. One exciting solution we have been working on is adapting a low-tech hydroponics technique that allow people to grow food in impossible places. Whenever there is an opportunity with a little bit of land for refugees to grow some of their food needs, we take that opportunity.”

Listen to this conversation with Raouf, Valerie, and WFP Storyteller refugee Malish James as they discuss who the forcibly displaced really represent and why we are seeing such an increase in number, as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

:: Aaron Niederhelman with Raouf Mazou, Valerie Newsom Guarnieri and Malish James

Listen on: Apple  |  Spotify  |  Google

Laying Down Tracks Episode 5 with Nate Mook

What better way to celebrate Sustainable Gastronomy Day than to listen to the latest episode of Laying Down Tracks? This episode touches on the importance of bringing resilience into food systems transformation as one of the most vital things to enable communities to bounce back from a crises and environmental shock.

“Food too often is seen as a commodity, as an object. It is often seen as a logistical problem. But it is about sharing a fresh nourishing plate to uplift spirits and make people feel like things will get better,” says CEO for World Central Kitchen, Nate Mook, who discusses with host Aaron the importance of shifting how we respond to crisis.

Listen to this conversation on the importance of building resilience to vulnerabilities and creating long term food security, as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

:: Aaron Niederhelman with Nate Mook

Listen on: Apple  |  Spotify  |  Google

Laying Down Tracks Episode 4 with Jemimah Njuki and Shakuntala Thilsted

What better way to mark World Oceans Day then listening to episode 4 of Laying Down Tracks? This week’s episode brings a fascinating discussion about planet, gender equality, and how we can best engage with the Ocean. “We need women’s voices and leadership to be prominent in food systems. It’s the only way to guarantee that food systems are just. I’ve been working as the custodian for gender equality…working with all of the Action Track leaders…to make sure that gender equality, the empowerment of women, is embedded in these solutions,” says Jemimah Njuki, Director for Africa at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Lead of the Summit’s Gender Lever of Change, who joins Aaron as co-host in this conversation about equitable livelihoods, gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Aquatic foods in the future can become a key forum for equality and inclusion. Guest in this episode, Shakuntala Thilsted, Global Lead for Nutrition and Public Health at WorldFish, and 2021 World Food Prize Laureate, explains how she hopes that winning the Food Prize will inspire young women and girls to study science: “It is extremely rewarding, extremely invigorating-you can reach far - and you can have a good time!” she says.

Listen to this conversation on gender equality, and women's empowerment within the aquatic food economy as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

:: Aaron Niederhelman with Jemimah Njuki and Shakuntala Thilsted

Listen on: Apple  |  Spotify  |  Google

Laying Down Tracks Episode 3 with Peter Thomson and Joao Campari

The oceans and their coastal areas are an essential component of the Earth's ecosystem hosting between 500,000 and 10 million species that provide a wide range of ecosystem services. “We cannot have a healthy planet without healthy oceans, and in any global discussion on biodiversity the ocean must be front-and-centre,” explains Peter Thomson, UN Special Envoy for the Ocean, who is a guest on this episode, co-hosted by Joao Campari, Global Leader of the WWF’s Food Practice and Chair of the UN Food Systems Summit Action Track 3.

Approximately 3 billion people in the world rely on wild-caught and farmed seafood as a primary source of protein, while at the same time agriculture uses up 38 percent of the global land surface. Whether on land or at sea, we are using up our precious resources and destroying others that can help us recover like biodiversity. With only nine more harvests remaining on a promise to meet the SDGs by 2030, it is important we find the right balance both for the health of our planet but also for the health of people everywhere.

Listen to this conversation on nature-based solutions and the blue economy as we continue to Lay Down Tracks to the UN Food Systems Summit.

:: Aaron Niederhelman with Joao Campari and Peter Thomson

Listen on: Apple  |  Spotify  |  Google

Laying Down Tracks Episode 2 with Tristram Stuart, Lana Weidgenant and Webster Makombe

If food waste was a country, it'd be the third biggest global greenhouse gas emitter. “We waste at least a third of the world's food sources. So, a third of all that environmental impact is happening for no good reason, just for food to be left to rot,” said author and activist Tristram Stuart as he joins Aaron Niederhelman as co-host for this second episode. Stuart is known for his craft beer line Toast Ale, which turns a potential food waste magically into beer. That is something we can all cheers to.

He is joined by Lana Weidgenant, Deputy Director of Zero Hour International and UN Food Systems Summit Vice-Chair for Action Track 2, and Webster Makombe, a law student and youth activist from Scaling Up Nutrition Movement. Sustainable consumption is becoming more of a priority from each generation to the next says Weidgenant, while Makombe shares how local foods are changing consumption habits in Zimbabwe.

Join us to hear all about how you can change your consumption habits – and your beer choice – to create lasting changes in our food systems.

:: Aaron Niederhelman with Tristram Stuart, Lana Weidgenant and Webster Makombe

Listen on: Apple  |  Spotify  |  Google

Laying Down Tracks Episode 1 with Lawrence Haddad, Maureen Muketha and Sophie Healy-Throw

“One of the exciting things about the summit is that it brings these five different communities together. There's the community that I'm immersed in; hunger, nutrition, and food safety - but there are these other communities involved. People that are worried about climate, environment, livelihood, and resilience. Food systems affect all of those things, and all of those things affect food systems," Said Dr. Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Chair of the UN Food Systems Summit Action Track 1, as he kicks off the conversation as co-host with Aaron Niederhelman.

The discussions in this first episode covers a lot of ground, but always seems to return to two subjects: food access, and the involvement of younger people. A successful movement lead by youth takes more than just a retweet or share; it requires meaningful conversations. Maureen Muketha, the founder of Tule Vyema, and youth activist Sophie Healy-Thow join as guests to discuss how to solve big problems tied to food access.

Tune-in to hear what’s really going on with your food in this first episode as we begin laying down tracks heading into the UN Food Systems Summit.

:: Aaron Niederhelman with Lawrence Haddad, Maureen Muketha and Sophie Healy-Thow

Listen on: Apple  |  Spotify  |  Google

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