The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN) was founded in 2009 with the aim of analyzing the major issues related to food and nutrition in the world, to encourage the debate concerning them and pr opose concrete solutions.
Our analyses of the global food crises of the world are multi-faceted and multidisciplinary: we’re looking at food in relation to health, science, the environment, natural resources, economic development and society, because we believe that the only way to face the issue is holistically, and to show how eating involves large and complex systems and institutions that affect all of us.
The issues addressed in recent years have been expressed in scientific publications, presentations at institutions, debates and public meetings. After presenting to Italian institutions and stakeholders in 2009, in 2010 the BCFN expanded its gaze beyond Italian borders and brought its objectives to the European Union in Brussels and to the United Nations.
In 2011, the international vocation of the BCFN went even further, expanding opportunities for discussion and comparison in France and the United States.
In 2012, while continuing to expand the program, the BCFN will continue to analyze these pressing issues and share insights with leaders in Italy and throughout the world.
To systematize a multidisciplinary approach, the BCFN has chosen to focus on four broad topics to organize the analyses and proposals:
FOOD FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH
The BCFN analyzes the sustainable use of natural resources in the food industry, seeking ways to ensure even distribution of food and clean water throughout the world, while preserving the environment and biodiversity.
The BCFN evaluates the impact of production activities and the consumption of food in global communities, and proposes recommendations for lifestyles oriented toward the environment and its resources.
As part of this effort, the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition developed the food and environmental double pyramid.
FOOD FOR ALL
The goal of the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition is to confront the paradox of excess food in Western countries and the lack of food in developing countries by analyzing how to promote better governance of the agriculture industry on a global scale. Through this focus, the Center hopes to work towards a more equitable distribution of food and to subsequently improve social well-being, health and the environment around the world.
FOOD FOR HEALTH
Choosing what we eat affects our well-being – eating a variety of balanced, nutritious foods helps us stay healthy. However, these choices also must take into account the resources – water, soil, energy – that are used to produce, transport and package our food.
To address these competing goals, the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition developed the double pyramid, where food groups are placed not only in terms of their impact on health, but also with respect to their impact on the environment, showing us how the food choices we make every day can affect our own well-being and that of the planet.
That is why the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition studies the most reliable theories within the scientific community to explain the role of food beginning in childhood. The goal is to reduce the disparity between excess food in wealthy nations and malnutrition in developing countries.
The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition outlines a framework of analysis and proposals that are based on the fact that health depends on prevention: a balanced lifestyle and eating right have a central role in slowing or preventing the development of diseases and the prevalence of obesity.
FOOD FOR CULTURE
By retracing the major phases of the development of the man-food relationship, and by bringing into focus the role of different food cultures, including the Mediterranean diet, the BCFN is working to recover and extend cultural elements related to food, while educating people to reduce waste.
Discover BARILLA CENTER FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION
In these three years since we established the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition, we have thoroughly analyzed the global food sustainability issues of our time and their continued, rapid evolution, and we have found a world beset with paradoxes.
One billion people suffer from hunger, while an equally large number of individuals are overweight or obese. The global food system produces enough food to feed the world’s population every day in a healthy way, but food waste and inefficient distribution cause many to go hungry. Tough economic times and poverty in many countries go hand in hand with continued pollution and scarce clean water.
These realities represent a defeat for all of us; of our ingenuity and our sense of humanity.
Access to food is one of the most basic and fundamental needs for a human being. Where there is insufficient food, individuals’ chances for success are hindered, and neighboring nations find peaceful coexistence increasingly difficult. Developed countries are living in an era of abundance and waste. We need to take a look around, look inside ourselves, and realize that we are capable of creating a system for a just and equitable distribution of resources. With a dedicated focus on these issues, the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition will continue in its fourth year. Through intensive research, and by listening closely as we work with the problems around us, our goal is to develop comprehensive proposals and recommendations, and to bring them to the decision-makers. The BCFN is our way of taking responsibility, and it is a testament to how much a company can do to help solve the problems the world faces in relation to food. The Center represents a commitment to creating an open dialog with the institutions, researchers, government officials, companies, and top experts in the industry. We want to extend an invitation to everyone to participate and to make a contribution to this critical cause. We believe that together we can invest in changing some of our age-old practices and adopting new ideas, to plan for a better future for our planet.