There are now more than 7 billion people on Earth, a number that is expected to soar over the next dozen years to 8 billion.

How will we feed so many people? Already, more than a billion people go hungry every day. With population growth accelerating, the challenge of finding sustainable ways to feed the world is compounded by global climate change, shifting geopolitics, rising energy demands and limits on natural resources.

“It’s one of the big questions of our time: How do we sustainably feed 8 billion people?” said Barbara Allen-Diaz, vice president of UC’s Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “UC is uniquely positioned to bring people together across a wide range of disciplines in search of common ground and science-based solutions.”

Today, Tuesday, April 9, ANR convenes some of the world’s leading experts — farmers, researchers, policymakers, economists, environmentalists and geopolitical experts — at a daylong forum focused on addressing how to sustainably feed 8 billion people by 2025.

You can learn more about the UC Global Food Systems Forum and to sign up to view the webcast, or join the ongoing conversation on Twitter by following #Food2025.

Keynote speakers include Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and a leader on climate justice for the world’s poor, and Wes Jackson, founder and president of the Land Institute. Michael Specter, global issues writer for The New Yorker magazine, will moderate the first of two panels, which will focus on the geopolitical, ethical, economic, environmental and technical challenges facing food systems from a global perspective. Award-winning author and journalist Mark Arax will moderate the second panel, which will address the implications, responsibilities and innovative opportunities from a California perspective.

“Our goal is to start a national and international conversation,” Allen-Diaz said. “There are so many interconnected issues and none of them will be addressed overnight. It’s going to take collaboration and dialogue to get where we need to go. We see an important role for UC in furthering that conversation.”

ANR already has launched a website and blog featuring commentary and insight from forum participants on topics as divergent as whether women are disproportionately affected by food insecurity to the debate about whether organic foods are better than genetically modified ones.

Read the complete story by Carolyn McMillan, UCOP manager of content strategy, on the UC Newsroom.

Food forum at a glance

• WHAT: UC Global Food Systems Forum
• WHO: World-renowned leaders in food systems dialogue
• WHEN: April 9, 2013, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• WHERE: Register for the live webcast.

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