Milan Urban Food Policy Pact
More than 50% of the world’s population currently lives in urban areas, a proportion that is projected to increase to almost 70% by 2050.
How it works
In 2014, the Mayor of Milan decided to launch an international protocol aimed at tackling food-related issues at the urban level, to be adopted by as many world cities as possible. The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact was signed on the 15 October 2015 in Milan by more than 100 cities. It represents one of the most important legacies of Milan EXPO 2015.
The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact is an international agreement of Mayors. It is more than a declaration, it is a concrete working tool for cities. It is composed by a preamble and a Framework for Action listing 37 recommended actions, clustered in 6 categories. For each recommended action there are specific indicators to monitor progresses in implementing the Pact. The Milan Pact Awards offer concrete examples of the food policies that cities are implementing in each of the 6 Pact categories.

and Nutrition
economic Equity
Production
and Distribution
Waste
Governance
The recommended actions falling into the “Governance category” are all those actions aimed at ensuring an enabling environment for effective action in cities, such as: to facilitate collaboration across city agencies and departments, to strengthen urban stakeholder participation, to identify, map and support local and grassroots initiatives, to develop or revise urban food policies and plans and to develop a disaster risk reduction strategy.
Discover the 6 recommended actions for the Governance category.
Facilitate collaboration across city agencies and departments and seek alignment of policies and programmes that impact the food system across multiple sectors and administrative levels, adopting and mainstreaming a rights-based approach; options can include dedication of permanent city staff, review of tasks and procedures and reallocation of resources.
Indicators
Enhance stakeholder participation at the city level through political dialogue, and if appropriate, appointment of a food policy advisor and/or development of a multi-stakeholder platform or food council, as well as through education and awareness raising.
Indicators
Identify, map and evaluate local initiatives and civil society food movements in order to transform best practices into relevant programmes and policies, with the support of local research or academic institutions.
Indicators
Develop or revise urban food policies and plans and ensure allocation of appropriate resources within city administration regarding food-related policies and programmes; review, harmonize and strengthen municipal regulations; build up strategic capacities for a more sustainable, healthy and equitable food system balancing urban and rural interests.
Indicators
Develop or improve multisectoral information systems for policy development and accountability by enhancing the availability, quality, quantity, coverage and management and exchange of data related to urban food systems, including both formal data collection and data generated by civil society and other partners.
Indicators
Develop a disaster risk reduction strategy to enhance the resilience of urban food systems, including those cities most affected by climate change, protracted crises and chronic food insecurity in urban and rural areas.
Indicators
Milan Pact Awards special mentions on Governance
Sustainable Diets and Nutrition
Cities that want to promote sustainable diets, better consumptions and nutrition can be inspired by the recommended actions falling into this category of the MUFPP, fox example: to address non-communicable diseases associated with poor diets, to develop sustainable dietary guidelines for urban environment, to explore regulatory and voluntary instruments to promote sustainable diets in cities and public facilities, to commit to achieving universal access to safe drinking water in urban and peri-urban areas.
Discover the 7 recommended actions for the Sustainable Diets and Nutrition category.
Promote sustainable diets (healthy, safe, culturally appropriate, environmentally friendly and rights-based) through relevant education, health promotion and communication programmes, with special attention to schools, care centres, markets and the media.
Indicators
Address non-communicable diseases associated with poor diets and obesity, giving specific attention where appropriate to reducing intake of sugar, salt, transfats, meat and dairy products and increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables and non-processed foods.
Indicators
Develop sustainable dietary guidelines to inform consumers, city planners (in particular for public food procurement), food service providers, retailers, producers and processors, and promote communication and training campaigns.
Indicators
Adapt standards and regulations to make sustainable diets and safe drinking water accessible in public sector facilities such as hospitals, health and childcare facilities, workplaces, universities, schools, food and catering services, municipal offices and prisons, and to the extent possible, in private sector retail and wholesale food distribution and markets.
Indicators
Explore regulatory and voluntary instruments to promote sustainable diets involving private and public companies as appropriate, using marketing, publicity and labelling policies; and economic incentives or disincentives; streamline regulations regarding the marketing of food and non-alcoholic beverages to children in accordance with WHO recommendations.
Indicators
Encourage joint action by health and food sectors to implement integrated people-centred strategies for healthy lifestyles and social inclusion.
Indicators
Invest in and commit to achieving universal access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation with the participation of civil society and various partnerships, as appropriate.
Indicators
Milan Pact Awards special mentions on Sustainable Diets and Nutrition
Social and economic Equity
City leaders that want to address inequality and poverty related to food systems, can undertake different recommended actions of this MUFPP category, such as: to use forms of social protection systems such as cash and food transfers, food banks, community food kitchens, emergency food pantries etc. to provide access to healthy food for all citizens, to encourage and support social and solidarity activities, to promote networks and support grassroots activities, to promote participatory education, training and research.
Discover the 6 recommended actions for the Social and economic Equity category.
Use cash and food transfers, and other forms of social protection systems (food banks, community food kitchens, emergency food pantries etc.) to provide vulnerable populations with access to healthy food, while taking into consideration the specific beliefs, culture, traditions, dietary habits and preferences of diverse communities, as a matter of human dignity and to avoid further marginalization.
Indicators
Re-orientate school feeding programmes and other institutional food services to provide healthy and local/regional food.
Indicators
Promote decent employment for all, within the food and agriculture sector, with the full inclusion of women.
Indicators
Encourage and support social and solidarity economy activities, that support sustainable livelihoods in the food chain and facilitate access to safe and healthy foods.
Indicators
Promote networks and support grassroots activities that create social inclusion and provide food to marginalized individuals.
Indicators
Promote participatory education, training and research as key elements in strengthening local action to increase social and economic equity, promote rights-based approaches, alleviate poverty and facilitate access to adequate and nutritious foods.
Indicators
Milan Pact Awards special mentions on Social and economic Equity
Food Production
The recommended actions falling into this category are all those actions aimed at strengthening sustainable food production, stressing the importance of rural-urban linkages, such as: to promote and strengthen urban and peri-urban sustainable food production, to apply an ecosystem approach to guide holistic and integrated land use planning and management enabling secure access to land for sustainable food production, to provide services to food producers in and around cities, to support short food chains, to improve waste and water management and reuse in agriculture.
Discover the 7 recommended actions for the Food Production category.
Promote and strengthen urban and peri-urban food production and processing based on sustainable approaches and integrate urban and peri-urban agriculture into city resilience plans.
Indicators
Seek coherence between the city and nearby rural food production, processing and distribution, focussing on smallholder producers and family farmers, paying particular attention to empowering women and youth.
Indicators
Apply an ecosystem approach to guide holistic and integrated land use planning and management in collaboration with both urban and rural authorities and other natural resource managers by combining landscape features, for example with risk-minimizing strategies to enhance opportunities for agroecological production, conservation of biodiversity and farmland, climate change adaptation, tourism, leisure and other ecosystem services.
Indicators
Protect and enable secure access and tenure to land for sustainable food production in urban and peri-urban areas, including land for community gardeners and smallholder producers, for example through land banks or community land trusts; provide access to municipal land for local agricultural production and promote integration with land use and city development plans and programmes.
Indicators
Help provide services to food producers in and around cities, including technical training and financial assistance (credit, technology, food safety, market access, etc.) to build a multigenerational and economically viable food system with inputs such as compost from food waste, grey water from post-consumer use, and energy from waste etc. while ensuring that these do not compete with human consumption.
Indicators
Support short food chains, producer organisations, producer-to-consumer networks and platforms, and other market systems that integrate the social and economic infrastructure of urban food system that links urban and rural areas. This could include civil society-led social and solidarity economy initiatives and alternative market systems.
Indicators
Improve (waste) water management and reuse in agriculture and food production through policies and programmes using participatory approaches.
Indicators
Milan Pact Awards special mentions on Food Production
Food Supply and Distribution
There is a variety of actions and measures that can be adopted by cities that want to ensure a sustainable, safe, fair, continuous and efficient supply and distribution of food into and within cities. For example: to review and strengthen food control systems, to ensure seasonal and local food consumption by linking peri-urban and near rural areas transport and logistics, to develop green public procurement and trade policy to facilitate short food supply chains, to support for municipal public markets, to support for municipal public markets.
Discover the 7 recommended actions for the Food Supply category.
Assess the flows of food to and through cities to ensure physical access to fresh, affordable foods in low-income or underserved neighbourhoods while addressing sustainable transportation and logistics planning to reduce carbon emissions with alternative fuels or means of transport.
Indicators
Support improved food storage, processing, transport and distribution technologies and infrastructure linking peri-urban and near rural areas to ensure seasonal food consumption and reduce food insecurity as well as food and nutrient loss and waste with an emphasis on diversified small and
medium scale food businesses along the value chain that may provide decent and stable employment.
Indicators
Assess, review and/or strengthen food control systems by implementing local food safety legislation and regulations that (1) ensure that food producers and suppliers throughout the food chain operate responsibly; (2) eliminate barriers to market access for family farmers and smallholder producers; and (3) integrate food safety, health and environmental dimensions.
Indicators
Review public procurement and trade policy aimed at facilitating food supply from short chains linking cities to secure a supply of healthy food, while also facilitating job access, fair production conditions and sustainable production for the most vulnerable producers and consumers, thereby using the potential of public procurement to help realize the right to food for all.
Indicators
Provide policy and programme support for municipal public food markets including farmers markets, informal markets, retail and wholesale markets, restaurants, and other food distributors, recognizing different approaches by cities working with private and public components of market systems.
Indicators
Improve and expand support for infrastructure related to food market systems that link urban buyers to urban, peri-urban and rural sellers while also building social cohesion and trust, supporting cultural exchange and ensuring sustainable livelihood, especially for women and young entrepreneurs.
Indicators
Acknowledge the informal sector’s contribution to urban food systems (in terms of food supply, job creation, promotion of local diets and environment management) and provide appropriate support and training in areas such as food safety, sustainable diets, waste prevention and management.
Indicators
Milan Pact Awards special mentions on Food Supply and Distribution
Food Waste
City leaders and policy makers that want to reduce food waste, as well as manage it in a more sustainable way, adopting a circular economy approach, can use the recommended actions of this category that lists down actions such as raising awareness of food loss and waste, recovering and redistributing food, etc.
Discover the 4 recommended actions for the Food Waste category.
Convene food system actors to assess and monitor food loss and waste reduction at all stages of the city region food supply chain, (including production, processing, packaging, safe food preparation, presentation and handling, re-use and recycling) and ensure holistic planning and design, transparency, accountability and policy integration.
Indicators
Raise awareness of food loss and waste through targeted events and campaigns; identify focal points such as educational institutions, community markets, company shops and other solidarity or circular economy initiatives.
Indicators
Collaborate with the private sector along with research, educational and community-based organisations to develop and review, as appropriate, municipal policies and regulations (e.g. processes, cosmetic and grading standards, expiration dates, etc.) to prevent waste or safely recover food and packaging using a “food use-not-waste” hierarchy.
Indicators
Save food by facilitating recovery and redistribution for human consumption of safe and nutritious foods, if applicable, that are at risk of being lost, discarded or wasted from production, manufacturing, retail, catering, wholesale and hospitality.