Top placement for “Pacific Island Food Revolution’ in global search for food innovators

The USAID Global Development Lab in Washington D.C. has announced that a team from the Pacific has achieved placement as one of 11 top innovators in a global search by LAUNCH Food.

Of about 300 submissions from innovators in 74 countries, Pacific Island Food Revolution (PIFR) won a coveted place and is the only innovation selected from the South Pacific.

A statement says PIFR is a collaboration by internationally renowned New Zealand TV chef and author, Robert Oliver and Elizabeth Powell, a Fijian private and public sector development strategist and implementer.

PIFR is a TV-led health education initiative tailored to audiences in the Pacific islands that includes multimedia and cross-sectoral wellness campaigns.

It is specifically focused on halting and ultimately reversing the growth of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in the region.

Through a whole-of-society disruption in mindsets, PIFR will drive the return to organic traditional food choices as a critically urgent health solution and as a spiritual reclaiming of regional identity through food.

The PIFR team continues discussions with leading members of Governments, NGOs and other wellness stakeholders.

With the other 10 selected innovators, PIFR will present their solution to members of the LAUNCH network at the LAUNCH Food Forum in San Francisco in March.

Experts and key players from across the international food landscape will work together to support and scale the PIFR innovation.

LAUNCH Food is a partnership between LAUNCH (a network-driven innovation platform that includes U.S. Agency for International Development, NASA, the Department of State, and NIKE) and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In the past seven years, a total of 77 innovators have been selected in LAUNCH’s challenges and have attracted some US$94 million in funding.

 

Photo by Stuff