Food Politics

One in nine people still go to bed hungry every night. Because of rapid population growth, the demand for livestock is expected to more than double by 2050, making it increasingly difficult to supply enough protein to nourish everyone. This pressure on the planet also amplifies greenhouse gas emissions and water scarcity. We have no choice but to discover alternative ways to feed people.

In today’s media-saturated world, information about health and nutrition is everywhere. But while we have access to more reliable information about nutrition than ever, there are also many scientifically questionable or even false claims presented as fact. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to sort out truths from falsehoods.

The companies will contribute a combined $525,000 to help the World Food Programme (WFP)—the world’s leading humanitarian agency fighting global hunger—reach tens of thousands of families in East Africa.

The Wendy's Company today announced the expansion of its Supplier Code of Conduct which now includes all U.S. and Canadian contracts managed by Quality Supply Chain Cooperative (QSCC) and suppliers that provide a significant stream of goods or services to The Wendy’s Company on an annual basis. The Code also includes new requirements for certain suppliers of whole, fresh produce, and identifies future aspirations to encourage continuous improvement in a meaningful way.

By most standards, last week was busy. Not only did friends and fans tell us we won the internet with the most epic tweet of 2017 (their words, not ours), we also published our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability year-in-review. It was eye opening and enjoyable to look back and see all that our Wendy’s family had accomplished in 2016.

As part of our commitment to protecting biodiversity and ecosystems, we have continued our efforts in tackling deforestation, particularly in the production of palm oil.

The Michigan Urban Farming Initative debuted America’s first sustainable urban agrihood in Detroit’s lower North End.

Farmers have always had the challenge of variable weather patterns. A year that delivers rich yields can give way to a drought the next year. Now, farmers must also contend with climate change, which is in some parts of the world adding to the severity of short-term weather extremes while also facilitating a wholesale shift in climate patterns. Add to this a rapidly growing global population that requires access to a safe and nutritious diet and it is easy to understand why conservation agriculture and sustainability are vital to the success of modern farming.

More people have access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food around the world today than ten years ago. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the number of undernourished people has fallen by approximately 167 million during that period. This improvement is cause for celebration but there is still much to be done: almost 800 million – just over one in nine people on the planet – still remain hungry. Issues like climate change, population growth, political instability, inadequate infrastructure and R&D investment, and global economic uncertainty also exist, threatening to undo the hard won progress that has been made on global food security.