Foundation establishes “world’s largest” sustainable food prizes

The Curt Bergfors Foundation, Sweden, which was established in 2019 to highlight the challenges in today’s food system and find new ways to redesign it for the future, has announced the establishment of what is said to be the world’s largest prize in the food arena.

The foundation will award two $1 million prizes – the Food Planet Prize awards – annually. One prize will be awarded to an existing scalable solution for sustainable foods and the second will be awarded for innovative initiatives that have the potential transform the global food sector.

“These are challenges that we all need to engage in,” said Curt Bergfors, a renowned hospitality entrepreneur in Sweden. “Our food system is broken, and the planet is ailing. We are all part of the problem, and we must all try to be part of the solution. I want to contribute through the foundation and these awards.”

Nominations for The Food Planet Prize are now open and the first prizes will be awarded in late 2020. The nominations will be evaluated by an international jury of leading scientists, policymakers and entrepreneurs. The jury is chaired by Johan Rockström, Executive Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Line Gordon, Director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.

“We need a food-system revolution or risk destabilising our planet. The new Food Planet Prize is designed to contribute to this goal,” said Rockström. 

“It is possible to feed 10 billion people a healthy diet, while maintaining a thriving biosphere. We want the Food Planet Prize to recognise the most important solutions that can scale rapidly,” Gordon added.

“Food has to be partly reinvented all across the chain – from primary sourcing to food and waste management in homes and restaurants,” said Lars Peder Hedberg, Executive Board Director of the Curt Bergfors Foundation.

In addition to the Food Planet Prize, the foundation will also fund a professorship with a focus on transformation to a sustainable food system. The intention is for the professorship to be based at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University.