FSF to Host Two Side Events at the 2025 World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogues
Food Systems for the Future (FSF) Institute, together with its partners, is proud to host two official side events during the 2025 Borlaug Dialogues of the World Food Prize Foundation.
The Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, named in honor of Nobel laureate Dr. Norman E. Borlaug, is a leading global forum uniting leader from science, policy, business, and farming to accelerate solutions for food and nutrition security.
This year’s theme, SOILutions for Security, highlights the foundational role of healthy soils in sustaining global stability. As the world faces rising food demand, conflict, and environmental stress, the Dialogue will explore how regenerative practices, science, and innovation can build resilient food systems from the ground up.
Amid this global conversation, FSF’s side events will convene partners across research, policy, and industry to explore two critical issues shaping the future of food: advancing evidence-based narratives around protein and understanding nutritious food demand among low-income consumers.
1. Rewriting the Protein Narrative: Trust, Shared Vision, and Sustainable Solutions
Date and Time: Wednesday, October 22 | 7:30–8:30 AM CDT
Location: Room 313, Iowa Events Center
Feeding nearly 10 billion people while meeting climate goals demands diverse protein sources. Animal proteins remain central to nutrition, livelihoods, and culture, while complementary options, plant-based, microbial, insect, blended, and cultivated, offer innovation and resilience. Both systems face sustainability and equity challenges yet are too often pitted against each other.
Hosted by FSF with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), this dialogue reframes the “conventional vs complementary” protein debate, building trust, bridging divides, and exploring how to embed information integrity in food and climate policy. Insights will inform a forthcoming multi-partner white paper, guiding evidence-based communication and collective action across diverse protein solutions.
Participants will gain:
Fresh perspectives from diverse stakeholders on how to move beyond polarized narratives;
A shared framing of how misinformation and disinformation shape narratives around protein systems, influencing public debate, delaying methane-reduction policies, and distorting investment;
Practical examples of how balanced communication can build trust and bridge divides between conventional and complementary proteins; and
Clear entry points to engage in future collaborative work and contribute to the forthcoming white paper.
For questions about this session, please contact: Cedric Habiyaremye at cedric@fsfinstitute.net
2. Investigating Demand for Nutritious Foods in Low-Income Consumers: Preliminary Insights for Dairy Products in the Midwest
Date and Time: Thursday, October 23 | 7:30–8:30 AM CDT
Location: Room 313, Iowa Events Center
Hosted by FSF and Midwest Dairy, this interactive session will present preliminary findings from joint research exploring consumer demand for nutritious dairy products among low-income populations in the U.S. Midwest.
Participants will:
Learn early insights from a literature review and key informant interviews;
Discuss barriers and facilitators for influencing demand in both urban and rural contexts; and
Engage in a roundtable discussion to provide feedback and shape future research directions.
This event will help inform strategies for identifying the factors and conditions that shape nutritious food purchasing decisions among low-income consumers.
For questions about this session, please contact Jocelyn Boiteau at jocelyn@fsfinstitute.net.
Join Us
You can attend both sessions by registering to attend the 2025 Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, searching for each event in the program, and saving your seat through the official event portal.
Information on panelists coming soon — be sure to check our events page for updates.
Through these conversations, FSF continues to advance its mission to bridge evidence, investment, and innovation for more resilient, equitable, and nutrition-positive food systems. Join us in Des Moines this October to be part of these important discussions shaping the future of food.