Food citizenship and the role businesses can play in a more sustainable food system were the focus of a seminar and panel discussion we took part in at CEU in Budapest on 16 October 2026. At the organisers’ invitation, we brought the business perspective to the panel: Gábor Szommer of our member company FINO-FOOD Kft. spoke on behalf of the iFood Cluster. The event was organised by Central European University (CEU), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the FoSSNet Knowledge Hub as part of the World Food Day events in Hungary.
Food citizenship sees people not only as consumers but as active participants in shaping the food system. The discussion explored what this could mean in practice for Budapest and Hungary, and how it connects to EU policy processes.
The panel looked at whether the citizen perspective should carry more weight in government decisions to promote sustainable food consumption, which initiatives already exist in this area, and what further policy steps are needed. The government side was represented by the Department of Sustainable Food Consumption at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Economy.
We believe the experience of food businesses belongs in policy dialogues like this one. We thank the organisers for the invitation and Gábor Szommer for representing the cluster.
Event details are available on the CEU website.