Good morning ministers, CEO’s, chefs, journalists, food enthusiasts, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome to the 3rd edition of The World Food Summit – Better Food for More People.

It is a pleasure to be here, and it is a pleasure for me to see people from all around the world gathered here today. 

It is a joyful occasion with focus on a subject that is very dear to me: Food. But it is also a serious occasion. Because when it comes to both food consumption and production, we are facing enormous global challenges that call for global solutions.

Today, more than 800 million people live in hunger, while more than 2 billion people are overweight or obese.

This truly is the paradox of our time.

But our food is not only unequally distributed...

Every year, almost one third of all food produced is either lost or wasted, and we have to stop that as well. Especially, since we live on a globe with limited resources.

As patron of this summit, I urge that we use this Summit to work together to address the global food challenges.

But first and foremost, every one of us must start by looking at our everyday lives and surroundings. We all have to be role models for our younger generation.

In my house, every now and then my children have to empty the fridge before buying new food. It means that I sometimes have to be a strict and unpopular parent – and I believe the best parents are J

We have to educate all our children to eat and consume food with modesty, because science shows that it is during childhood that every person’s health and food habits are formed for the rest of their life.

We can all do a difference if we have the right tools, the knowledge and the skills.

Therefore, we must work to ensure that all children are given the possibility to live a life with a healthy diet, with the ability to cook for themselves and the knowledge of the globes limitations.

I know that from where we stand today, this dream sounds less realistic than Denmark winning the World Cup in soccer J But nevertheless, it should be our aim.

I would like to end by thanking you all for coming here today.

By working together, we can create a joint movement and hopefully a sustainable world for the sake of our children.

A lot has to change if we are to ensure better food for more people.

Thank you for listening!