Milan and the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact

In 2015, the Milan Municipality initiated the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, a pivotal international accord involving cities from across the globe dedicated to championing healthier and more sustainable food systems. This pact encompasses a comprehensive framework for action, incorporating critical aspects such as governance, sustainable diets and nutrition, social and economic equity, food production, food supply and distribution, and food waste management.

I had the distinct privilege of being invited by Dr. Adrian Phillips, then Director of Public Health, to join him in 2015 for the inaugural signing ceremony of the Milan Pact. At that time, I assumed the role of a Public Health Nutrition specialist, with my responsibilities centred on supporting the city in devising initiatives aimed at combatting childhood obesity. In recognition of our efforts, we were honoured with a Special Mention at the Milan Pact Awards in 2016, specifically in the 'Nutrition and Sustainable Diets' category.

My involvement as a consultant to the Public Health Department continued, and in 2017, we forged a highly successful partnership with Pune, India, known as BINDI (Birmingham India Nutrition Initiative). Additionally, I had the privilege of hosting the second EUROCITIES WG Food Group. Our collaboration bore fruit in the form of several exciting initiatives, which I will elaborate on in separate entries on this blog. In 2019, we secured funding from the FCDO to expand the BINDI partnership, involving more cities from the Commonwealth in preparation for the Commonwealth Games.

My motivation behind these endeavors is to engage with a broader spectrum of representatives from cities in Africa and Asia, providing them with a platform to voice the challenges they face within their food systems and present their strategies for addressing these issues. The cities participating in this project are prominently featured on the Food Cities 2022 platform. I'm delighted to share that as a result of these efforts, 11 Indian cities and a city in Malawi have recently joined the pact. Furthermore, the representatives from these cities will be joining us here in Birmingham for our summer meeting.