From left to right: Washington Post Columnist Tamar Haspel, Global Alliance for the Future of Food’s Lauren Baker, Tufts University Researcher at the Global Development and Environment Institute Tim Wise, Johns Hopkins University Professor of Global Food and Agriculture Jess Fanzo, Oxfam America’s Senior Campaign Strategist Oliver Gottfried, Stonyfield’s Mission Director Nichole Cirillo.

By Margaux Maxwell

“Nutritious food is a human right,” said Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank, at the opening of last Saturday’s Food Tank Summit at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, a conference that brought together food policymakers, chefs, farmers, and researchers to tackle questions surrounding the future of food security.

In a series of five panels, the event covered themes such as Farming Differently, The True Value of Food, Are We Becoming Nutrient “Dense”?, Creating Better Food Access, and Farm and Food Innovations.

Key points revolved around getting younger farmers involved in the field, income inequality and the cost of organic goods, and how lifestyle choices such as vegetarianism may not be an option in a non global-north context.

U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern spoke at the event, arguing for reforms in food access for low-income families and responding to Trump’s February draft plan to cut food stamp benefits. “It would be immoral to cut the SNAP program. It would be immoral not to restructure it for the better… food is medicine,” said McGovern.

The event was created with the collaboration of Food Tank and Oxfam America. Full videos of the talks are available at https://foodtank.com/news/2017/04/food-tank-boston-summit-live/.