Fairfood International: The Food Future We Want

On the eve of the Rio+20 Corporate Sustainability Forum, Fairfood International has released ???The Food Future We Want???, a set of documents outlining our demands of the food and beverage industry in respect to the priority areas of Rio+20. With the aid of these demands, we aim to show how the food and beverage industry is responsible for making changes to achieve a sustainable food economy and how the decisions made at Rio+20 can facilitate this. In this set of documents, six accompanying demand briefings are provided according to the six priority areas on the Rio+20 agenda. The six demand briefings aim to outline what we expect from food and beverage companies in accordance with their corporate responsibility. Each demand briefing includes a brief introduction to the issue at hand, the connection to the food industry, possible solutions, and a list of our demands. The six demands relate to: Decent jobs, Energy, Food security and Sustainable agriculture, Water, Oceans and Disaster readiness. ???The Food Future We Want??? expounds on ???The Future We Want???, the document begun by Rio+20 organisers which outlines the objectives and expected agreements to come out of the conference. We have chosen to relate our document to that of the United Nations??? for two main reasons: Firstly, ???The Future We Want??? calls for governments to acknowledge the important role of the private sector in moving toward sustainable development and encouraging business and industry leaders to show leadership in advancing sustainable development and poverty eradication. This hits at the core of Fairfood International???s intervention strategy and resonates with the reasons why we target food and beverage companies. Secondly, ???The Future We Want??? will also call for a global policy framework requiring all companies to consider sustainability issues and to integrate sustainability information within the reporting cycle. Fairfood International expects companies not only to make commitments regarding sustainability, but also to implement and then monitor, evaluate and report on their progress towards sustainability. ???The Food Future We Want??? is a culmination of information and demands based on the priority issues on the board at Rio+20. We hope that by providing our own demands, companies can further realise the necessary steps that should be implemented to effect sustainable change in the food and beverage industry.