Seeds&Chips

2017: President Barack H. Obama Guest of Honor at The Global Food Innovation Summit

4/3/2017

The 44th US President Barack H. Obama will be the guest of honor at 2017 Seeds&Chips - The Global Food Innovation Summit, taking place in Milano (Italy) from Monday 8 to Thursday 11, May 2017 at Fiera Milano-Rho. The President will be at Seeds&Chips on Tuesday May 9, where he will hold a keynote speech as well as a conversation together with Sam Kass, Senior Food Policy Advisor to President Obama and promoter of White House’s health-conscious revolution.

Created and organized by Marco Gualtieri, Seeds&Chips this year celebrates its third edition and aims to establish Milano as an international capital of food innovation, by carrying the torch of Expo’s legacy to face one of the greatest global challenges: climate change and the issues linked to food supply in an increasingly populated world with progressively scarce resources. Seeds&Chips will address all aspects of these challenges, from new food production techniques and nutrition to food security and the right to healthy, sustainable and accessible food for all.

"We are deeply honored that President Barack H. Obama will be visiting Milano for the first time to attend Seeds&Chips. This undoubtedly shines the spotlight on Milano, on Italy and on the journey that began with Expo 2015. Thanks to President Obama’s participation at Seeds&Chips, the city of Milano once again plays the leading role in the creation of food policies at an international level. With Expo 2015, Milano was the center of these important issues. Today we have the responsibility of carrying this important legacy forward,” stated Marco Gualtieri, founder of Seeds&Chips. “It is essential to find solutions to tackle the major challenges linked to global population growth, food security, sustainability and to climate change. I believe that Milano and Italy can become an international reference point for innovation and research in this field," Gualtieri concluded.

The Global Food Innovation Summit brings together hundreds of startups, companies, universities, institutions, investors, accelerators and incubators, opinion leaders and policy makers in the food and food-tech industry and will feature exhibition pavilions and a conference area. In the exhibition areas, major companies, institutions and startups will present their innovations and solutions. The full schedule of conference features influential industry experts who will exchange points of view on the most significant scenarios concerning food production and supply. Among the main events, the special conference "Feeding the Cities - Urban and Vertical farming" dedicated to sustainable farming in big cities, with the participation of the mayors of major world capitals. Keynote speaker Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, will open the event. The conference “Food Security for developing countries "will address instead the issue of food supply in developing countries.

"I'm really proud that, after welcoming Michelle, Milano will host Barack H. Obama, a man I greatly admire”, stated Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala. “Seeds&Chips offers a unique opportunity to focus everyone's attention on an extremely important issue that has close links with our city. With the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, we have shown we have the ability and strength to guide and speak up for a change that is more necessary than ever. The document that was able to translate the food policies at the heart of Expo 2015 into actions is based not only on concrete projects aimed at reducing waste and ensuring access to healthy food. Another one of the document’s pillars is promoting cooperation between all the great cities of the world. These are two key ingredients that will enable all of us to achieve this goal, and the presence of President Barack H. Obama can only lend more strength to our message," Sala concluded.

Additional distinguished international and Italian guests include Kerry Kennedy, President of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, committed activist and fervent supporter of human rights and of safe and affordable food; Sam Kass, Senior Food Policy Advisor to President Obama and promoter of the White House’s health-conscious revolution; Italian Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda, Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Maurizio Martina, Livia Pomodoro, President of the Milan Center for Food Law and Policy, Fabio Gallia, CEO of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti; Luigi Bonini, Senior Vice President, Global Product Innovation of Starbucks; Andrea Illy, President of Illycaffè; Giuseppe Caprotti former CEO of Esselunga; Edward Mukiibi, Vice President of Slow Food International and Danielle Nierenberg, founder and President of Food Tank. Several members of the European Commission and the European Parliament will also be attending Seeds&Chips - The Global Food Innovation Summit.

In-depth sessions will range from hi-tech hot topics, such as big data, applications of 3D printing in food or technological solutions for the restaurants and supermarkets of the future, to marketing and trading scenarios, such as the growth of sharing economy, novel and superfood and the impact of millennials on innovation with the conference “How millennials are changing the food industry”

Seeds&Chips is organized in collaboration with TUTTOFOOD 2017, a synergistic action that generates positive effects in many sectors of the entire Italian National system.