Ten questions for Pierre Ferrari, head of Heifer International
Food Tank, in partnership with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, is hosting the听听on November 16, 2016.听
This event will feature more than 40 different speakers from the food and agriculture field. Researchers, farmers, chefs, policymakers, government officials, and students will come together for interactive panels, networking, and delicious food, followed by a day of hands-on activities and opportunities for attendees.
Food Tank recently had the opportunity to speak with Pierre Ferrari, President and CEO at听, who will be speaking at the summit.
Food Tank (FT): What inspired you to get involved in food and agriculture?
Pierre Ferrari (PF): I enjoy food; I need food. I have been involved mostly in the beverage industry鈥攐range juice, wine, soft drinks. Dairy and the value chain complexities of agriculture fascinate me and surface so much of what makes us human鈥攐ur interdependencies with others, the soil, water, climate, tradition, and biodiversity, and the dignity of farming.
FT: What do you see as the biggest opportunity to fix the food system?
PF: Relentless data collecting, analysis, and financialization to bring attention and full transparency to how food moves from sun, soil, and seed to food on the table.
FT: What innovations in agriculture and the food system are you most excited about?
PF: The fast-approaching technical solutions to both energy poverty (solar and batteries) and the desalinization of salt water.
FT: Can you share a story about a food hero that inspired you?
PF: Alice Waters. She is both a gourmet sophisticate and deeply engaged with how and by whom the food she serves so lovingly is grown and reaches her.
FT: What drives you every day to fight for the bettering of our food system?
PF: The amazing and painful inequities/inequalities that permeate the global food systems.
FT: What鈥檚 the biggest problem within the food system our parents and grandparents didn't have to deal with?
PF: The exhaustion of the soil and building up of toxicity allied with the unpredictability of climate change and local weather patterns.
FT: What鈥檚 the first, most pressing issue you鈥檇 like to see solved within the food system?
PF: Equity between farmers, especially smallholder farmers and the ultimate marketers in global commodities such as coffee, cocoa, spice, vanilla, sugar, etc.
FT: What is one small change every person can make in their daily lives to make a big difference?
PF: Avoid waste.
FT: What鈥檚 one issue within the food system you鈥檇 like to see completely solved for the next generation?
PF: Poverty trap issues like access to water, soil quality (small-scale irrigation, training), and high-quality seeds.
FT: What agricultural issue would you like for the next president of the United States to immediately address?听
PF: Climate change.
To find out more about the event, see the full list of speakers, and purchase tickets, please click听.听Interested participants who cannot join can also sign up for the live stream听.
To join us at Food Tank's S茫o Paulo, Brazil, Summit听in October 2016, please click听.听To join us at Food Tank's Sacramento, CA, Summit听September 22鈥�23,听2016, please click听.听
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Sponsors for this year's Food Tank Summit in Chicago include:听Almond Board of California, Annie鈥檚 Inc., Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition, Blue Apron, Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Clif Bar & Company, Driscoll's, Elevation Burger, Farmer鈥檚 Fridge, Food and Environment Reporting Network, Inter Press Service (IPS), Niman Ranch, and Organic Valley. More to be announced soon.
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This story originally appeared on .
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