Global Food Security Symposium 2021
In advance of the UN Food Systems Summit, US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman, Impossible Foods’ Head of Impact Strategy Rebekah Moses, and other global leaders discuss innovations transforming food systems.
About This Event
Changing the Game for Food Systems Innovation
Our world is changing—can we change with it? The pandemic has shown the fragility of food systems and how their breakdown impacts health, economies, and the environment. Rethinking food systems is a shared responsibility that requires bold cooperation, commitments, and action from the public and private sectors. Game-changing innovations and high-impact solutions have the potential to radically transform the food system into a more sustainable, inclusive, nutritious and resilient one. How can new research, technologies, and innovations be leveraged? What are the impacts for people, the planet, and prosperity?
Event Schedule
| Time | Agenda |
|---|---|
| 10:00 - 10:15am CDT | Welcome and Keynote Interview |
| 10:15 - 10:20am | Spotlight: Research & Innovation Strategy |
| 10:20 - 10:25am | Remarks: Tom Vilsack |
| 10:25 - 11:25am | Panel: Game Changing Innovations & Solutions for Food Systems Innovation |
| 11:25 - 11:30am | Closing Remarks |
Welcome & Keynote Interview Speakers
CEO, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Ivo H. Daalder served as the US ambassador to NATO from 2009 to 2013. He joined the Council as president in 2013 and took on the new role of CEO in 2023. Previously, he was a senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution and served as director for European affairs on President Bill Clinton’s National Security Council. He is the author or editor of 10 books.
Mark Suzman
CEO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Mark Suzman leads the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in service of its vision—to help every person have the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life. He began his career as a journalist for the Johannesburg Star and then the Financial Times. In 2000, Suzman joined the United Nations, where he was part of the effort to implement the Millennium Development Goals under the leadership of then Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Spotlight: Research & Innovation Strategy Speaker
Claudia Sadoff
Executive Management Team Convener and Managing Director, Research Delivery and Impact, CGIAR
Claudia Sadoff is a globally-recognized leader in water management for international development. She served as the Director General of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a CGIAR Center headquartered in Sri Lanka working globally to find water solutions for sustainable, climate-resilient development.
Remarks Speaker
Tom Vilsack
Secretary, US Department of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack is the 32nd United States Secretary of Agriculture. He previously served in this role for eight years under President Barack Obama. Prior to returning to USDA, he served as president and CEO of the US Dairy Export Council.
Panel Speakers
Elliott Grant
General Manager of Mineral at X, The Moonshot Factory
At X - Alphabet’s 'Moonshot Factory', Dr. Elliott Grant works on the development of breakthrough tools to catalyze global sustainable agriculture. He was the founder and CEO of HarvestMark, the pioneer in food traceability, and CEO of ShopWell, a personalized nutrition company. He is the author of 32 US patents on topics such as cryptography, traceability, satellite imaging, and plant phenotyping.
Dan Harburg
Vice President of Global Head of Carbon Quantification, Indigo Agriculture
Dan Harburg co-leads the innovation team at Indigo Agriculture, a Boston-based company dedicated to harnessing nature to help farmers sustainably feed the planet. Prior to Indigo, he was an investor at Anterra Capital, a specialist food- and ag-tech fund.
Riana Lynn
Founder, Journey Foods
Riana Lynn is the founder of Journey Foods, a food tech company that supports cutting-edge product management and data services for food businesses. She's developed high-growth, nationally-recognized technology and food businesses. Her accomplishments have been featured on MIT 35 under 35, CNBC, Forbes, USA Today, Wired, TechCrunch, Entrepreneur Magazine, Food Tank, and more.
Rebekah Moses
Head of Impact Strategy, Impossible Foods
Rebekah Moses leads impact strategy at Impossible Foods, a company addressing climate change and sustainable food futures through plant-based meat. Her work focuses on how product innovation and consumer behavior can maximize environmental outcomes through business growth. She works with Impossible Foods teams to integrate environmental and social mission into core strategy.
Louisa Burwood-Taylor
Head of Media and Research, AgFunder
Louisa Burwood-Taylor is Head of Media and Research for AgFunder and chief editor of its news site AFN. She has covered a range of financial products and markets during her career, including launching two publications: an institutional investment intelligence service for the Financial Times and the first-ever title focused on agriculture investment, Agri Investor.
Closing Remarks Speaker
Peggy Tsai Yih
Former Managing Director, Center on Global Food and Agriculture
Peggy Tsai Yih led the Council’s continued work on global food and nutrition security and in advancing a more sustainable and resilient food system. She has 20 years of experience in food, agriculture, and natural resource policy, with nearly 15 years at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, DC.
Related Research
New Solutions for a Changing Climate
This policy brief notes that the government must recognize investment opportunities in US agricultural research and development in order to address current and future climate challenges.
Centering Global Food Security for Global Prosperity
Catherine Bertini and Ertharin Cousin are co-leads on a paper offering the Biden Administration recommendations for the US government to build on a strong foundation of food and nutrition security programs to alleviate global hunger and malnutrition.
"Harvesting Tomorrow" Series
The Chicago Council’s Center on Global Food and Agriculture is proud to share a new blog series, Harvesting Tomorrow. The series highlights up-and-coming faces and ideas in the agrifood industry, and features much-needed game-changers in every facet of the food system—from field to plate and beyond. Read all posts from this series.
- How One Plant Breeder Innovates to Tackle Potato’s Biggest Challenge
- Could a Data Sharing Protocol be Agriculture's Missing Link?
- When Intermediary Links in the Supply Chain are Weakened, the Whole Food System…
- We Can't Shoot for the Moon without Space Technology
- Good Nutrition Today is Key to Harvesting a Better Tomorrow
- Bridging Gaps to Achieve Good Food for All
- From Simple to Great, from Past to Future
- Global Food Security Symposium Highlights Innovation
- Food Security Recovery is More Affordable than You Think
- From Molecule to Market: Using Innovative Plant Breeding to Build Global Food S…
- Closing Investment Gaps in African Aquatic Foods
- Reenvisioning a Fractured Global Food System
- Dietary Diversity for Women Improves Nutrition Security for All
- A Gender-Responsive Approach to Natural Resources
In support of the UN Food Systems Summit
