MEDIA ALERT

The Global Alliance for the Future of Food welcomes the launch of The Lancet Series on the Double Burden of Malnutrition today. Created by the World Health Organization and The Lancet, the series brings attention to the global risks of malnutrition in all its forms, examining how it threatens the economic, social, and environmental health of individuals, families, entire communities, countries, and the planet. Ruth Richardson, Executive Director of the Global Alliance, co-authored the Nutrition Manifesto that opens the series.

Commenting on the launch, Richardson said: “I’m delighted to have contributed to The Lancet’s new Nutrition Manifesto. The case for systemic change in our food systems is clear: there is sufficient food available for everyone to be well-fed and well-nourished. That this is not happening points not to a lack of food but to systemic failure in the way we grow, process, distribute, market, eat, and dispose of food with a disregard for equity and meeting basic human needs.

“From government policymakers to civil society and business leaders, to investors and health practitioners, the time has come to shift mindsets, to act on the evidence we have, and to prioritize the policies and practices which promote good human and ecological health — the two are intimately and inextricably linked. Access to healthy, affordable, sustainable food is an inalienable right and we have a shared duty to protect it,” she continued.

The Global Alliance’s vision for the future is one where food systems are healthy, equitable, renewable, resilient, and culturally diverse food systems shaped by people, communities, and their institutions.

To find out more about our work in health and well-being and to understand the true cost of food on our health, ecosystems and more, visit:

• Report: Unravelling the Food-Health Nexus: Addressing Practices, Political Economy, and Power Relations to Build Healthier Food Systems
• Report + Framework: TEEBAgriFood Evaluation Framework
• Discussion Paper: Advancing Health and Well-being in Food Systems: Strategic Opportunities for Funders

-Ends

For additional comment and interviews, contact:
Kasia Murphy, Communications Director
Global Alliance for the Future of Food
E: Kasia@futureoffood.org; M: +44 777 473 6497

About the Global Alliance for the Future of Food @futureoffoodorg
The Global Alliance for the Future of Food is a strategic alliance of philanthropic foundations working together and with others to transform global food systems now and for future generations. We believe in the urgency of transforming global food systems, and in the power of working together and with others to effect positive change. Food systems reform requires new and better solutions at all scales through a systems-level approach and deep collaboration among philanthropy, researchers, grassroots movements, the private sector, farmers and food systems workers, Indigenous Peoples, government, and policymakers. www.futureoffood.org