Remarks at The Politics of Food: A Conference on New York’s Next Policy Challenge
November 19, 2008
Thanks to Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, for
spearheading and co-sponsoring this conference; our School of International
and Public Affairs, our Earth Institute's Urban Design Lab and our Office of
Environmental Stewardship, for helping make this conference possible. Thank you, also, to today's distinguished
speakers.
Welcome. We are
delighted to have Columbia
co-sponsor this important conference on one of the crucial policy challenges
facing our city, and indeed, our world - the politics of food.
We are going to have an opportunity to hear both from a
distinguished collection of international authorities as well as some of New York's leading
experts on an aspect of sustainability that has often been overlooked and is
now gaining much-needed attention. As we
all know, you can no longer talk about health policy or energy policy or
environmental policy without talking about food policy. The way we grow, process, and eat food
affects our ability to cut greenhouse gases, achieve energy independence, and
improve public health and, thereby, control our skyrocketing health care costs.
At Columbia we have made
environmental sustainability a centerpiece of our teaching, research, and
campus infrastructure efforts both here in New York and around the world. I am especially proud that Columbia University
has been a Partner in Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC initiative. As a challenge partner, we have committed to
reduce our greenhouse emissions by 30 percent in the next 10 years, matching
the Mayor's commitment for cutting emissions from City operations. At the same time, a number of our faculty are
using their expertise in climate change and adaptation to advise and contribute
to PlaNYC.
I am also proud of the fact that Columbia has just announced the first global
initiative to provide rigorous professional training for future leaders in the
field of sustainable development. A new
two-year Global Master's in Development Practice Programs will begin in the
fall of 2009.
The University already offers 24 environmental
degree-granting programs, an undergraduate sustainable development
concentration, and is home of the Earth Institute. For decades, our Earth Institute - and its
Lamont Doherty Observatory - has been a pioneering leader in climate
change. The Institute is combining our
historic leadership in climate change and earth sciences with issues of culture
and development in the search for ways to build a truly sustainable society,
here and around the world.
Our Office of Environmental Stewardship, led by Nilda Mesa,
has had remarkable success with efforts to reduce the University's carbon
footprint. These efforts range from
comprehensive incentive-based recycling programs to significant gains in energy
efficiency. We not only have installed
green roofs on some of our campus buildings, we are spreading a green mind-set
that is so essential to changing the way we live and work.
As a result of these efforts, Columbia
was one of only 15 of the 300 participating U.S. universities to receive an "A-"
for sustainability by a 2009 report from the Sustainable Endowments Institute. As part of that grade, and especially
relevant to today's conference, the University earned an "A" in the "food and
recycling" category - 16 percent of the food served in our dining halls is
purchased locally. An organic student
co-op in one dining hall sells campus-grown produce, and fair-trade coffee is
served at all venues. The campus also
hosts a farmer's market twice a week.
Some of you may know that Dickson Despommier, a professor in
our Mailman School of Public Health, is a leading champion of one of the most
inventive new ideas in urban food policy - the concept of Vertical Farming. Many of you here also know of Gro Harlem
Brundtlandwho now serves as Special
Envoy for Climate Change for United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon. More than two decades ago, the Brundtland
Commission report put the matter before us simply and powerfully: "Sustainable
development is development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs." It was just another way of reminding us that
we borrow the earth from our children as much as we inherit it from our
parents. We are proud to be a partner
and a host for this important step in New
York City's commitment to fulfilling that
responsibility.
Now I would like to introduce one of New York's most active and innovative
sustainability advocates. Last year,
Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer launched the Go Green East Harlem Initiative, a multi-faceted campaign to
improve health and nutrition in East Harlem
and provide a model for environmental action in other urban neighborhoods. Due to his efforts, we have seen the opening
of a new asthma center, the planting of hundreds of street trees in East
Harlem; a new Farmer's Market on 106th Street; a ‘green building'
conference for developers, planners, and community advocates; and the
publication of the bilingual Go Green
East Harlem Cook Book, which features healthy recipes and is offered free
of charge to East Harlem residents. It
is my pleasure to introduce Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer.
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