Food Challenges Seminar

Food Challenges was the second seminar in the Future Challenges: Systems Thinking and Values based Leadership Series held online daily from 9am to 11:30am starting Tuesday 3rd November, finishing on Thursday 5th 2020. The group of participants from around New Zealand were diverse in age, experience, expertise, culture and sectors.

It was moderated by experts in systems sciences, values-based leadership, food sciences, and policy formation: Neil Jacobstein, Dr. Vivienne Hunt and Prof. Warren McNabb. Each session was moderated by a different expert:

Day 1: Framework for systems and values - elements of systems thinking, values based leadership, how systems representations can clarify our thinking about food sources, sinks, and flows, exploring the linkage to food systems trade-offs and values based leadership.

Day 2: Food challenges - what is food? Are all calories or proteins the same quality, and if not, how do they differ? How much energy, water, nutrients, pesticides, labour, storage, and shipping goes into our animal and plant based proteins? What are the opportunities for New Zealand's food entrepreneurs given technological innovations and other factors?

Day 3: Real world food policy decisions in business/government - what are the trade-offs between economics, health, and environmental protection? What factors are involved in producing organic food, or including sugar as a food ingredient? What are the impacts of taxes on certain kinds of food? What are New Zealand’s key food imports and exports, and how might that mix change in the future?

Here is what some of the participants had to say:

I really enjoyed the collegial, open discussion of very important topics on food production and nutrition. The reading and moderation were of excellent standard and kept us all focused on the big issues without getting lost and off topic. The participants were a diverse mix of thought proving people and I enjoyed being challenged by them. I look forward to the next one! Gabrielle Thomson, Director, Silver Fern Farms

I found the readings a thoroughly thought provoking collection of texts, which I plan on revisiting again in the future. The moderators did an excellent job of facilitating a polite, balanced and engaging discussion. But most of all, I was blown away by the intellect, curiosity and respectful nature of the participants on all three days. Macaulay Jones, Policy Advisor and Climate Change and Trade, Federated Farmers

The biggest takeaway for me was that the food system is staggeringly complex, but that we also have the tools and the smarts to solve the many problems we face. This is an unusually optimistic conclusion compared to other global problems, and I find that very exciting. Morgan Dolfing, Chemical Engineer & Global Studies Student, Auckland University

My three days attending the Aspen Institute New Zealand's discussion of food challenges was consciousness-raising. The readings provided a depth of understanding that I was lacking and the discussion around systems thinking and values leadership was thought-provoking. One of the most rewarding aspects about the discussions we had was the chance to see the wisdom and commitment among the young members of our group. Pallas Hupe Cotter, POP Today