海角大神

This year has had its fair share of food moments. Food policies and programs have been developed to address nutrition and food security, efforts have been made to standardize and quantify food waste, and a growing group of young food leaders around the world聽have聽continually contributed to growing involvement and effort in improving the global food system. Here are 16 noteworthy food moments of 2016:

1. The U.S. Congress passed the聽Global Food Security Act of 2016. The vote put the United States government鈥檚聽Feed the Future聽initiative into law,聽reinforcing聽the nation鈥檚 commitment to fighting hunger and supporting food security and nutrition worldwide.
2. The United Nations declared 2016 the聽International Year of Pulses聽(IYP).聽IYP worked to encourage more production and consumption of plant-based foods as a source of essential nutrients at the national, regional, and global level. Efforts throughout the year sought to create awareness, understand the challenges faced by farmers, and support market access and sustainability through events and discussions throughout the world.
3. France banned food waste in supermarkets. In January, France聽officially banned supermarkets聽that are 4,305 square feet and larger from throwing away and destroying unsold foods. Alternatively, they must donate their excess food and foods聽nearing聽鈥渂est before鈥� dates to food banks and charities, or as fodder for animals. The law will also make it easier for food industry companies to聽directly donate聽their excess products from their factories to food banks. The new law is projected to add an additional聽10 thousand meals聽per year for France鈥檚 hungry.
4. Nepal pledged to end hunger by 2025. Launching a聽National Action Plan on the Zero Hunger Initiative聽in partnership with the聽U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, Nepal reasserted provisions of its constitution that address national food sovereignty and the right to food. Nepal is one of only a聽handful聽of countries whose national constitution includes food.
5. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-ME) introduced聽legislation to standardize food date labeling.聽Consumer confusion over date labels contributes to 90 percent of safe food that is lost in America. This legislation established a uniform national date labeling system to reduce food wasted and money lost by minimizing confusion and simplifying the compliance process for companies.
6. New Zealand鈥檚聽BioGrow Society聽and聽Soil & Health Association聽merged.聽The consolidation of the two organic organizations combines their skills and resources into one entity that is stronger and more unified. The merger hopes to continue to strengthen the growth of organics in New Zealand as well as move towards developing a national legal and regulatory standard for what is considered 鈥渃ertified organic.鈥�
7. The University of California鈥檚聽Global Food Initiative聽released its聽30 Under 30 list.聽The list聽highlighted thirty young leaders and activists who are working to improve the global food system more sustainable and nutritious for all. By conducting research and identifying and sharing best practices, the Global Food Initiative aims to聽sustainably and nutritiously feed聽a world population of eight billion by 2025.
8. Africa celebrated the first Africa Day for School Feeding on聽March 1.聽The first聽Africa Day for School Feeding聽took place to celebrate homegrown school meal programs as an integral multi-sector approach to accomplishing Africa鈥檚 sustainable development goals. This follows the adoption of homegrown school feeding programs by African heads of state in January as a聽continental strategy聽for improving the retention and performance of children in schools and accelerating entrepreneurship and income in local communities.
9. Hawai鈥檌 passed the聽first state-funded tax credit聽in the United States to support organic farming.聽Spearheaded by the Hawai鈥檌 Center for Food Safety (HCFS), the legislation will reimburse organic farmers for virtually all costs of organic food production and certification, up to US$50,000.
10. Iceland and the World Food Programme signed its first partnership.聽The聽Strategic Partnership Agreement聽will provide multi-year funding towards achieving zero hunger, the second goal of the United Nation鈥檚聽Sustainable Development Goals. The second goal pledges to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture worldwide.
11. Toronto Food Policy Council聽launched聽Food by Ward.聽The聽mapping tool聽documents the available food assets of each of Toronto鈥檚 neighborhoods, making it easier to identify areas of food access inequality and the specific service needs each community requires.
12. The聽Natural Resource Defense Council聽and the聽Ad Council聽launched a national public service聽campaign.聽Save the Food聽draws attention to the amount of food wasted by consumers in efforts to encourage them to become more conscious and proactive in reducing the amount of food they discard at home.
13. The Rockefeller Foundation launched聽YieldWise聽to develop ways for the world to cut food waste in half by 2030. The US$130 million initiative, in line with the United Nation鈥檚 sustainable development goals, will focus initial efforts in countries where half of all food grown is lost鈥擪enya, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
14. Italy鈥檚 Ministry of Health聽placed restrictions聽on the use of the world鈥檚 most popular herbicide, glyphosate.聽The restrictions include a ban on glyphosate on public areas鈥攑arks, gardens, courtyards, road and railway verges, sports fields, playgrounds, and school grounds鈥攆requented by vulnerable groups such as the young or elderly. It is one of the widest bans on glyphosate to date.
15. Four cities in California and Colorado聽passed soda taxes on election day.聽More cities are expected to follow in an effort to reduce consumption and the associated health care costs of the sugary beverages. A series of reports by the Childhood Obesity Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Study聽found that soda聽taxes, in addition to reducing聽consumption, can聽improve the health and economic wellbeing of communities.
16. The first-ever global standard for measuring food loss and waste was聽launched.聽The聽Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard聽(FLW Standard) includes a set of definitions and reporting requirements to effectively and standardly measure, report, and manage food loss and waste. It was launched at the聽Global Green Growth Forum聽in Copenhagen. The standard will help countries, companies, and others to quantify their food loss and waste and pinpoint where it is occurring, saving them money, resources, and reducing the amount of food wasted.

This story originally appeared on Food Tank.