Toronto signs onto the C40 Good Food Cities Declaration

In October 2019, Toronto signed onto the C40 Good Food Cities Declaration, being one of only 14 cities across the world to do so. Mayor John Tory signed the declaration at the C40 World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen. 

The Good Food Cities Declaration draws attention to the importance of diet in promoting human health and preserving the environment. Not only are diet-related illnesses on the rise but the food system contributes to the climate crisis as it accounts for one-third of all global greenhouse gas emissions annually. 

A key objective of the C40 Good Food Cities is to transition to the “Planetary Health Diet” which according to the Eat Lancet Commission if adopted universally, “would dramatically reduce emissions, provide a balanced, nutritional diet for 10 billion people, and save 11 million lives each year”. 

The measures outlined in the declaration are as follows: 

• Aligning food procurement to the Planetary Health Diet, ideally sourced from organic agriculture
• Supporting an overall increase of healthy plant-based food consumption in cities by shifting away from unsustainable, unhealthy diets. 
• Reducing food loss and waste by 50% from a 2015 baseline.
• Within two years of endorsing this declaration, working with citizens, businesses, public institutions and other organizations to develop a joint strategy for implementing these measures and achieving these goals inclusively and equitably, and incorporating this strategy into the city’s Climate Action Plan.

Recently, Toronto declared a climate emergency and the TransformTO strategy has identified areas where food system interventions can be made to reduce emissions and waste. 

Read the full C40 Good Food Cities declaration https://www.c40.org/press_releases/good-food-cities

Read Toronto’s recommended actions and indicators https://c40-production-images.s3.amazonaws.com/other_uploads/images/2402_NEW_food_declaration_V2.original.pdf?1570702613

Read the most recent TransformTO implementation update https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/90de-TransformTO-Implementation-Update.pdf