Feeding Cities 2013 - Conference Videos

An international conference examining the critical relationship between urbanization and food security throughout the world held at the University of Pennsylvania, March 13-15, 2013.

Held over three days, conference attendees heard presentations and participated in plenary and focused breakout sessions designed to facilitate a discussion to identify implementable solutions to the fundamental challenge of our modern age: how to provide a sustainable, nutritious and affordable diet to the world’s burgeoning urban populous. More than 60 distinguished speakers and some 450 attendees across the public, private and non-profit sectors were assembled on Penn's campus to advance the conference’s ambitious, though achievable goals:

• Stimulate constructive dialogue and foster the exchange of knowledge among a diverse group of speakers and attendees and
• Spur the creation of teaching, research and practice-based coalitions, with participation from both the public and private sectors, dedicated to ensuring a secure, sustainable and equitable food distribution system for the 21st century.

The conference program included keynote presentations from Joan Clos, Executive Director, UN-HABITAT; Yael Lehmann, Executive Director, The Food Trust; Ridwan Kamil, Founder and Principal, Urbane Indonesia; Heather Grady, Vice President, Foundation Initiatives, The Rockefeller Foundation; Professor Barry Popkin, W.R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor, Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Drew Becher, President, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) among other prominent leaders from the private sector and academia.