Day 4 and the last day of “Almedalen Week,” a brilliant summer day, it was time for Mistra Food Futures, together with SLU Future Food, to host our Almedalen event on the theme of Sustainable Food Preparedness.
With great joy and relief, we saw people streaming in for the breakfast discussion with moderator-led conversations on various topics. The event featured Gotland’s local ingredients, the discussions were lively, and the atmosphere was vibrant. Simply an overwhelming start to our event.
The first seminar of the morning revolved around the question: Do we need stockpiles if we have sustainable food production? Sure, stockpiles are needed, but we need to look further because what happens when the stockpiles run out? Is it even possible, and should we be entirely self-sufficient? Fruitful panel discussions that highlighted the questions from various perspectives. Helena Hansson, Program Director of Mistra Food Futures:
– Sustainability and preparedness can go hand in hand, and I believe much of the research from Mistra Food Futures demonstrates this. In response to the question of whether we need emergency stockpiles if we have sustainable food systems: Yes, we need emergency stockpiles, at least to facilitate short-term transitions. If we encounter a crisis, we need the stockpiles to manage the immediate situation that arises, but if we also have resilient and sustainable food systems, we can adapt these systems over time. This way, when the emergency stockpiles are depleted, we can still produce food and ensure its availability for the population.
The morning concluded with another seminar on the theme of Water in the Food Landscape, focusing on how we can integrate short-term measures with long-term plans to create a sustainable and resilient system for managing water in the food landscape during droughts and floods.
The good mood lasted until the end, many stayed and continued the conversations while the team packed up and prepared for the journey back home to Uppsala.
