On 14 October 2016 mayors and  delegates of MUFPP signatories cities gathered at FAO headquarters in Rome,  on the occasion of the World Food Day celebrations for the second Mayors’ summit.
“The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact represents one of the most important legacies of Expo 2015, it shows the capacity to translate food policies into practice. We shall all commit to make the Pact grow ” said the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala. “Milan has an extraordinary capacity to be open to the world e we want to reinforce our leading role in food policies. We are working together with many city stakeholders: universities; civil society organizations, business sector to curb food waste, increase access to healthy food, support local production, put the food policy at the core of our political action. The spirit of cooperation fostered by the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact underlined by the Milan Pact Awards conferred today, is crucial in this path, but even more important is to invest in the future generation to make children understand the healthy food for all is a priority”.
FAO Director General José Graziano Da Silva opened the Summit by drawing attention to the fact that “in 2050, two out of three people will live in an urban area, therefore cities have the potential to make the difference and contribute to build resilient food systems”
The summit has been a great opportunity to discuss the commitments and the future of the first international Pact on urban food policies, launched in 2015 by the city of Milan and signed by 130 cities so far. The debate focused on the most compelling food issues and on a new possible model of development. Mayors and delegates have exchanged views on the role that the networks of cities can play in the implementation of the Pact. Moreover, the opportunity to establish a monitoring framework to take stock of progress made has been assessed.
In 2017 MUFPP cities will meet in Valencia.
The Summit ended with the proclamation of the winners of the first Milan Pact Awards (MPA), launched by the City of Milan together with Fondazione Cariplo. MPA stands for a recognition of the work done by MUFPP signatory cities in implementing good practices and a stimulus to foster peer to peer collaboration.
The MPA foresees 8 awards: two monetary prizes and six special mentions, one for each category of the MUFPP Framework for Action. Baltimore and Mexico City won the monetary prizes; Vancouver, Toronto, Quito, Birmingham, Riga and Lusaka the special mentions. Find out more about the winner practices