June 19, 2018 Barilla Foundation Briefing at the FPA. 2030 AGENDA: UNLEASH THE FULL POTENTIAL OF THE FOOD SYSTEMS TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR ALL On 19th June, 2018, the Foreign Press Association hosted Luca Di Leo, Head of Media Relations at Barilla, and Valentina Gasbarri, Communication Officer at the Barilla for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) Foundation. Founded in 2009 by the Barilla family, the BCFN Foundation was conceived as a source of inspiration to guide the company and its mission. The BCFN Foundation is a multidisciplinary and independent think tank that analyzes the complexity of current agri-food systems and fosters change towards healthier and more sustainable lifestyles in the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through a multidisciplinary approach to food sustainability, the BCFN Foundation promotes also an open dialogue between science, politics, business and society. Its initiatives and programs are geared towards promoting awareness, informed food choices and provide concrete solutions, while protecting our planet. Through the scientific research, such as the Food Sustainability Index; Food and Migration; public initiatives, such as our signature event, the International Forum on Food and Nutrition; and programs like the Food Sustainability Media Award, BCFN YES! different stakeholders are brought together in the food and sustainability realm, and foster a global dialogue to achieve a sustainable food future for people and the Planet. Today, the global food system faces unprecedented challenges and paradoxes:
Addressing these three paradoxes is critical and complex. It requires a globally coordinated and unified dialogue to identify and implement concrete solutions that leverage existing resources and knowledge. The time is now to make a significant progress and transform on sustainable food systems to achieve the SDGs by 2030, so we can feed a rapidly growing population, provide healthy, nutritious and affordable food for all, and reverse the adverse effects of climate change. From raising awareness on these challenges, the BCFN Foundation is now working to to trying to fix them towards a dramatic unified change across all aspects of the food value chain, through a solution-oriented, multistakeholders dialogue. Every year, the BCFN Foundation organizes the International Forum on Food and Nutrition to provide an open space for interdisciplinary discussion and to address these global food challenges. On September 28, the BCFN Foundation, in partnership with the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network will convene a wide range of stakeholders – from governments to civil society organizations, research, science and the private sector – for the International Forum on Food and Nutrition in New York, during the United Nations General Assembly. Almost all SDGs relate to global food and nutrition, including the goals that relate to poverty, gender equality, water and sanitation, responsible production and consumption, and climate change. The global food system needs to be radically reshaped and transformed to achieve a whole range of SDGs, in order to be sustainable, nutrition-, environmental- and health-driven, efficient, inclusive, and business-friendly. The Food Sustainability Index, a flagship of the BCFN Foundation, realized in collaboration with the Economist Intelligence Unit, proposes best practices and key policy options at a country level, to achieve the SDGs through a threefold approach on sustainable agriculture; nutritional challenges; food loss and waste. The Food Sustainability Index is a model to analyze the progress of 34 countries vis-à-vis three main challenges with which the global food system is currently confronted. It analyzes how countries are performing in relationship to their policies and best practices on:
The Barilla Foundation will also be presenting the Index during the BCFN Forum in New York. The global top performers in the 2017 Index was France, followed by Japan and Germany, Spain and Sweden. In 2017, the U.S. was in the third quartile, along with countries such as Argentina, Mexico and China. The U.S. earned a high score for the food loss and waste pillar, performing strongly in nearly all the relevant indicators. However, the country’s score for sustainable agriculture was average. Despite a broadly positive showing in the water resources category, the land category saw repeatedly low scores across indicators such as impact on land of animal feed and biofuels, agricultural subsidies and diversification of agricultural system. Much more has to be done in terms of nutritional challenges, with a poor score for over-nourishment, physical activity, diet composition and number of people per fast food restaurants mitigated somewhat by a strong score for the prevalence of malnourishment, micronutrient deficiency and healthy life expectancy indicators. The International Forum on Food and Nutrition is a testament to the BCFN Foundation to bringing diverse voices together to plant the seeds to concrete changes for healthy and sustainable life for all, leaving no one behind. The Food Sustainability Index, created by the Economist Intelligence Unit with BCFN, is a tool designed to highlight international policies and best practices relating to global paradoxes and to the main SDGs for food, climate change, sustainable cities, responsible production From Left to Right: David P. Michaels, President, Foreign Press Association - Ian Bremmer. President & Founder, Eurasia Group - Thanos Dimadis, Executive Director, Foreign Press Association On May 30th, 2018, the Foreign Press Association had the pleasure of hosting political scientist and founder of the Eurasia Group, Ian Bremmer. Foreign correspondents-members of the Foreign Press Association joined Bremmer for a discussion on his latest book, “Us vs. Them: The Failure of Globalism.” The book suggests why divisions in our world have worsened, and the rise of the conservative right-wing candidates in democracies all around the world, including President Trump of the United States. Bremmer described the book as a cautionary tale and stated it was a very “personal, yet depressing,” book. He focused his remarks on today’s geopolitics and the divisions, not only in the USA but most of the developed world. To answer why geopolitics has worsened in recent years, he cites four main components; economics, social and cultural, security, and the influence of technology. Bremmer engaged the professional analysts and journalists in a discussion on these topics, and exactly how it is leading to heightened tensions surrounding immigration, refugees, and conservative vs. liberal politics. He remarked that although globalization is an ever-present economic reality in the creation of more efficient ways for people, goods, and money to travel faster, globalism and the ideology itself is failing the average person, leading to increased frustration with the current governmental system. Bremmer stated that he believes the current situation must worsen before becoming better. He believes that the sense of dislocation will increase, as well as the sentiment that the elite is not helping “us” (the common man). He attributes this to the advancing technology and “artificial intelligence” replacing jobs and consequently putting people out of work. To address this problem, Bremmer concluded the discussion by asking the question, “instead of waiting for the governments to come up with solutions, what are the small things that can be done by individuals and entities, such as philanthropists, local governments, schools, religious institutions, etc. that could positively affect the world? The Foreign Press Association's Centennial Year was launched with the ringing of the opening bell of NASDAQ this morning. President of the FPA, David Michaels, members of the board and Foreign Press Foundation’s Board of Governors marked 100 years of supporting the needs of international reporters at the high-profile market open, which was carried on the major networks. The President of the FPA David P. Michaels, the Chair of the Board of Governors of the Foreign Press Foundation Nancy Prager Kamel, and the Executive Director and General Secretary of the FPA Thanos Dimadis were interviewed for a “Behind the Bell” Nasdaq Facebook Live segment in which they discussed the history of the FPA, the re-launch of the Foreign Press Awards in November to celebrate the FPA’s actual birthday, and commitment to supporting international journalists. The FPA 100th anniversary logo and opening bell ceremony were replayed on NASDAQ’s Times Square video screens. Watch the video of the opening bell of NASDAQ ceremony by clicking HERE Watch the video of the "Behind the Bell' Nasdaq Facebook Live by clicking HERE Dear Members, We are delighted to present you our new website. As we are constantly trying to improve our services to all FPA members your feedback is important to us. If you have ideas or comments that you would you'd like to share with us, please do it by sending an email to: FPA@ForeignPressAssociation.org. Going forward during this landmark year of the celebration of our first 100 years, we are pleased to inform you that we are planning to launch some new initiatives. These will include further exclusive events, partnerships and collaborations, and of course our Foreign Press Scholarship Awards as well as the re-institution of the Foreign Press Awards. Those members who have already paid their membership fees for 2018 will be shortly informed about our new way of communication and of keeping you updated about all exclusive benefits of your membership as well as member-only events. To those who haven't paid their membership fees, we politely ask them to do so soon in order that we can include them in our special invitations and to allow access to the FPA benefits. Please note our new offices address near Times Square at 1501 Broadway, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10036. We also want to invite you to connect with us on all social media. For any inquiry you may have for us it is strongly recommended that you contact us initially via e-mail. A member of our team will contact you in regards to your request. If you also wish to volunteer to contribute to the efforts of our newly elected Board and Executive Committee, please do not hesitate to contact us. Best regards, The FPA Team Ray Vernon’s new book on espionage and political intrigueWhile current anxieties exist with rogue nations like North Korea in possession of nuclear weapons, what if there was a rogue within our own military establishment? In book one of a trilogy, Ray Vernon has created an intense novel about the British military establishment as one London-born Irishman and chief small nuclear weapons expert at the Ministry of Defense goes rogue, potentially threatening the lives of millions of Londoners in pursuit of his ultimate dream of a united Ireland in “Green September. As Major Kevin MacAllister carries out his plan, emotions run high and tensions mount as he prepares to sacrifice his friends, upstanding career, and the love of his life—all to pursue his dream. Now only one question remains: Will he be successful, or will his dream die with him in the open sea? “I have always had a deep interest in history, particularly Ireland’s long and tortured history of invasion and subjugation by a succession of different cultures since the first millennium,” said Vernon. “This novel is a fictional evolution of that history and the ultimate question of, ‘What if one Irishman decided to fight back for all the Irish people?’” “Set in 1993, Vernon’s debut novel is part The Day of the Jackal and part The Rock (the movie, not the former wrestler),” as stated by Kirkus Reviews. In this international espionage thriller, an extraordinary nuclear terrorist unfurls a plan with the power to instill fear in millions of Londoners and bring the British government to its knees. “Green September” By Ray Vernon ISBN: 9781532010422 (softcover); 9781532010439 (hardcover); 9781532010446 (eBook) Available at the iUniverse Online Bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble About the author Ray Vernon is a member of the Foreign Press Association. He grew up in Ireland as the youngest of eight children. After graduating from Cork University, he lived in London, Germany, Italy, and eventually the United States, where his sales and marketing career took him to more than 80 countries. Vernon is now a real estate broker who serves Boston’s South Shore and Cape Cod. He resides in Plymouth, Massachusetts. “Green September” is Vernon’s debut novel. To learn more, please visit www.rayvernon.com. Read his latest interview available here. FPA members are invited to participate at Columbia Population Research Center Conference: Shaping the Future of DACA: Bridging Research and Policy.
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 2018 TIME: 12:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. PLACE: Social Work Building, Room C03 For full list of programming and participants: http://cupop.columbia.edu/research/research-areas/shaping-future-daca-bridging-research-and-policy *Press RSVP required at Sabina.Lee@columbia.edu; TO: Members of the FPA
FROM: Thanos Dimadis, General Secretary DATE: 16th February, 2018 SUBJECT: Election of Officers & Executive Board The Officers & Executive Board for the FPA's Centennial Year are as follows: PRESIDENT: David P. Michaels VICE PRESIDENT: Ian Williams GENERAL SECRETARY: Thanos Dimadis TREASURER: Jeffrey Laner, Esq. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Ksenia Baygarova Roberto Capocelli Diana Delucia Simon Locke Claus Mueller Gigi Van Deckter Sarab Zavaleta Shen Lu (Alternate Board Member) Ladies & Gentlemen: HIGHLIGHTS OF 2017 First, I wish to thank a great team for all their initiatives and efforts that resulted in achieving a particular statistic that says it all: For the second year running, during the fiscal year ending 31st October, the FPA received more applications for membership than we have in any previous year for which we have records. |