S02E05: Feeding Our Cities

The Oblique Life Global Goals

Today, urban dwellers are removed from food production, which has widened the gulf between cities and rural areas. Convenience has led to an over-abundance of food, but it is not equitably distributed. Nor is it necessarily healthy. Cooking and eating collectively have also dwindled, and conspicuous consumption has become fashionable. Significant disruptions can make bringing food to cities challenging.

No change is free, and some can have unintended consequences, but our speakers offer some compelling solutions.

• Schools must offer experiential education in regenerative, circular agriculture, so that from an early age we understand and appreciate the value of food, and how our choices matter.
• Technology and data should be used to help make food systems more resource-efficient. There are solutions such as halophytic agriculture and biomimicry.
• Policy has to be inclusive, so that we all have access to nutritious, tasty food. That means thinking about seeds, greenhouses, transport, waters, wet markets and supermarkets. Governments can learn from Paris and incentivise rooftop farming. They can encourage community gardens and biogesters, promote healthy diets and monitor non-communicable diseases. We look at the different approaches in cities as diverse as Ghent and Quito.
  Speakers:
• Henry Gordon-Smith, Founder & CEO, Agritecture
• Alessandro Parades, EVP of Agriculture, Vidaluz Development
• Nataly Pinto, Director, Latin America, Rikolto