Today, Oct. 16, is World Food Day and the UN’s Food Systems Summit in partnership with Future Food Institute is hosting the Voices of Food Systems Live, a 24-hour Global relay conversation.

Improving food systems is vital as many systems are exposed to contaminants in the water, soil, and air, causing people to consume unsafe or contaminated foods, according to a news release about the event.

Agnes Kalibata, the UN Special Envoy to the 2021 Food Systems Summit, explained why these types of events are so important in the effort to improve food systems. “What we all must realize is that today’s food systems are in disrepair. The UN Food Systems Summit will raise global awareness, deepen our understanding of the problems we must solve and set a course to radically change the way we produce, process and consume food. That is why on World Food Day, we are launching our engagement process with an equally ambitious 24-hour event on what we plan to do in the course of the next year.”

The 24-hour Global Relay Conversation is an interactive discussion for World Food Day, and also the official launch of the Food Systems Summit Dialogues — Summit Dialogues facilitate structured conversations among groups with different perspectives on how to get their food systems to work for the common good.

The UN Food System Summit is inviting attendees into a global discussion with celebrity chefs, indigenous peoples, youth climate activists, small farmer business owners and heads of state on how in the next 10 years our food systems must transform.

Interested in attending the global relay conversation? Register here to receive updates.