On 16th March, the MUFPP Secretariat has been invited to join the Indian cities as they end their journey in this new path. As a matter of fact, the MUFPP has had the pleasure to participate along with different international experts in the field in the judging of India’s EatSmart Cities Challenge.
Launched in April 2021, this initiative aims to motivate smart cities to develop a plan that supports a healthy, safe and sustainable food environment supported by institutional, physical, social, and economic infrastructure along with the application of ‘smart’ solutions to combat food related issues.
The EatSmart Cities Challenge was co-produced by the Smart Cities Mission and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). With more than 100 applications from cities, the participants were first required to develop an EatSmart Vision detailing how they would adopt Eat Right India initiatives. 20 cities reached the final stage of the challenge and presented their food visions and applications to an international panel of experts, including the MUFPP Secretariat, the Food Foundation, with whom the Milan Pact has been working closely for many years, FSSAI and representative from Lady Irwin College in Delhi. The jury, with the support of observers from FAO, evaluated the submissions and reached a final decision, after assessing each city on the five areas of the challenge.
Today was held the offical announcement of the 11 winning cities – which include Chandigarh, Indore, Jabalpur, Jammu, Panaji, Rajkot, Rourkela, Surat, Sagar, Tumkuru and Ujjain – that will be funded to implement and scale up their food strategies over a period of one year.
In the scale up stage, cities will adopt a targeted approach towards the food systems in implementation of various Eat Right India programs at a larger scale. To support the cities, FSSAI along with Food Foundation will organize a series of activities to provide technical assistance and showcase their efforts at international forums.
The MUFPP is proud to have been involved in the process considering the common objectives of the EatSmart Cities Challenge and the Milan Pact. It was interesting to see such an initiative coming from a national government, recognising the role of cities in food systems transformation. The MUFPP will be more than happy to welcome the 11 winning cities in its community!
