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whether bio fertilizers are in fact better for the environment that synthetic. Whether all should be removed. The natural processes of nature were referenced

Improving soil health using circular economy principles Indigenous Practices should be advocated Agroforestry should be encouraged and scaled there is no agriculture without soil health. Education of Farmers and other stakeholders will be critical to ensuring that all work together to improve soil health and biodiversity there is need for focussed action to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides Good agricultural practices, organic grow standards and other forms of food safety management system standards can have significant impacts on the biodiversity of soil and food system M... Read moreanaging ewaste and other emissions is critical to preserving soil diversity National Policies providing for better application and verification of the international standards in preserving soil biodiversity can have many co benefits on health, safety, environment and on ecosystem vitality Mechanism need to be created to assure we get beyond having policies without processes and methods to assure impacts are managed, assessed and improved upon Partnerships between Academia, Private Sector and civil society can provide enhanced capability and capacity to design, plan, implement, monitor, improve, sustain policies, procedures and practices necessary to support soil health A regional and working group on soil biodiversity should be establish and provided with adequate funding to plan and implement education, awareness and intervention programmes relevant to supporting soil health and biodiversity . these actions should be aligned to SDGs and climate actions  Suggestions for minimizing the impact of husbandry or animal farming on the environment included: Regional Collaboration & Cooperation. • Specific reasons for this suggestion included provision of technical assistance by experts, knowledge-sharing and guidance (i.e., best practices, innovation, and technology (not necessarily smart farming options). • Develop, fund, and maintain a highly-integrated system. Improving access to information and resources to include greater connectivity was another suggestion. • Specific interventions such as government expanding and improving broadband access, allocating radio bandwidth dedicated to broadcasting information to outlying, tech-poor/tech unsavvy farmers. This includes dedicated government-sponsored audio/radio spots. China and Africa are contemporary examples of countries hosting forums/spots/access points for outlying persons. Incentivization. • Offer/fund efforts to identify other scientific means of minimization and/or mitigation in this discipline. Strengthening of existing regional extension services. • The current “bottlenecking” and inadequacy of service provided were identified as specific examples of how poor extension services act as barriers in this context. Other solutions. • Rotational grazing • Agro-forestry • Water harvesting (increasingly important as region experiences excessive heat, etc.) • Improved land & water management There is need for incentives to scale up Community Composting, Community Compost Bins, Anaerobic digestion, Permaculture clubs and waste to bio fertilizers and other good practices. The is need for flexible pathways to financing and as far as practicable neutering government bureaucracy and influence in the deployment of international funds. More third party avenues and flows are necessary to improve efficiency and alignment . There is need to avoid the policy gamesmanship, manipulation of symbols of progress and create independent third party of tripartite mechanisms that fulfil aims by channeling financing to aligned initiatives. It was strongly felt that government approval is not necessary for alignment to regional or national gaols but instead provide undue influence and control that more often than not hinders progress on the goals when political motives get confused as development objectives Read less

Incentivizing Circularity Innovating Financing models should be developed to support and encourage farmers using circular principles and models eg Funding anaerobic digesters, small scale waste to energy plants, composting systems on individual and community scale, procuring food from these farms with good agriculture practices in place Sustainable procurement is a powerful tool to encourage good sustainable and responsible agriculture production and consumption Incentives should be provided to support training, creating social enterprises using waste and reducing the flow of organic waste to ... Read morelandfills Several opportunities exist to create bio fertilizers at scale using fish waste, sargassum, poultry waste, coconut waste, cinnamon, neem and other natural agro based products. There is a need to create programmes . To accelerate and scale these programmes newly structured grants and other financial incentives are needed to support green entrepreneurs and social enterprises to scale and accelerate these practices regionally and nationally across the Caribbean region Incubator Programmes should be created to support innovations across the food system value chain Women, youth, differently abled and disenfranchised individuals should have flexible and preferential access to grant and innovative funding schemes developed to promote businesses that advance circularity  Livestock protocol should follow the same processes and protocols that govern the crop production model.  Government backing, development, and support of insurance specific for the agricultural sector, to include specialized sub-sectors and operations of varying levels. • Jamaica has recently launched such a program. NOTE: One example of an insurance product being introduced in the Caribbean’s is termed Parametric Disaster Insurance, an event-based rather than a loss-based payout system.  Dialogue among nation states in the region is essential. This is a mechanism, for among other things, identification of regional markets and non-traditional collaboration and cooperation.  A leader in the Caribbean research & development and ag education is the Bahama’s Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) is a rich source of real-time, authoritative entity providing ag-specific data and resources regionally and globally. Activities currently underway at BAMSI include: • An EU-funded incubator for small ruminants (i.e., goat, sheep, deer) • Research on feeding and farming methods • Development of regional best practices NOTE: The Cuba Model is the framework being utilized.  The Integrated Production Model is of value within this context.  The example of Tanzania’s planting of plantain and coffee together, was offered.  Incorporation of chicken into an environment such as this (Nathan is planning to expand his company’s farming interests to include chicken farming) was suggested, as appropriate in this context. The droppings (as well as those from ducks and pigs would serve as organic fertilizer.  Minimally, barriers to and concerns with the use of organic fertilizer were identified as: 1. Cost (within the large farm or commercial context). For example, one acre of farmland would require 2-4,000 pounds of manure annually. 2. The runoff and by-product effect – specifically, phosphorous-driven “green” water. The green water produced can be mitigated by planting “run-off” or “cover crops”. NOTE: Currently, one participant’s company has a team of scientists working on developing an organic fertilizer formulation. It’ll be 6-12 months before a usable sample/formulation is available for testing. The goal is making the fertilizer available commercially, as well as for their personal use on their 600-acre farm. Read less

Public Awareness and Social Marketing of Circular Economy Principles and Practices A regional platform on the circular economy in agriculture should be created to not only promote good practices but share and highlight success stories. The platform should also have a knowledge sharing space , discussion board and a means of generating consumer content The use of Green Marks and Sustainable procurement were strongly advocated for as part of a policy that supports education, training and awareness for circular economy principles, practices and standards across the food system value chain There i... Read mores need for review of the education curriculum for agriculture. there is a need for emphasis on sustainable, climate smart and resilient practices that includes the circular economy . These practices should be included from primary to tertiary in adequate depth and breadth. More importantly demonstrable models of the practices should be created for applied learning. It was felt that service learning and other practices that allow the students and graduates in tertiary settings to gain credits for practical application of the science in benefits to the community can become a more dominant mode in education It was felt that there is need in the public awareness and education campaigns to reduce the technicality of the language used, use more local examples and terminology, promote national and regional pride by connecting and placing messages in the cultural context and expressions of song, dance, spoken word and regional genre. It was felt that simpler language, using dialect and real life testimonials will help better connect regional and national audiences to the messages and practices. The historical context in applying these principles and models were also critical to both acceleration and scale Utilize social media platforms and specifically designated platforms . You tube styled video, doodle, tic tok and other means should be used to share information, insights, success stories, lessons learnt and share opportunities for financing and incentives Climate financing, green funding and biodiversity funds should provide support for circular economy activities inclusive of education, public awareness, training and capacity building Partnerships between UNDP. academia, civil society, private sector, social enterprises, were seen as critical to the success of all aspects of PR, education, training and awareness activities. Education and awareness need to be integrated and incorporated into all interventions. Horizontal communications . Partnerships include Ministries of Education, Calypsonians, Reggae Artiste, Spoken Word, drummers, Dancers, Chutney Singers, Poets, Universities and Colleges, Ministries of Agriculture and Ministries of the Environment. A regional and national working group should be convened to assist in navigating these partnerships and assuring the relationships are managed and harnessed on an ongoing basis. technology should be leveraged in practicable ways to harness these relationships. The analytics and data can also be used to enhance the communication flows, planning and intervention. There is need to manage these interactions in the interrelated, interconnected and interdependent ways that they are and not get drawn into recreating or perfecting silos whilst using new technology Read less

Building sustainable agribusiness To make agro businesses even more competitive, resilient and sustainable there is need to integrate circularity from design and manage the interactions to draw the full benefits out of the system. Zero waste is the most economical, sustainable and competitive way forward From Growing , Harvesting and Production, Manufacturing, Packaging, Warehousing, transportation, Delivery and Consumption there is a need to make system circular in its design and manage the relationships to capture every opportunity to make more circular and profitable at the same time. Many ... Read moreopportunities reside in energy efficiency, water efficiency, waste management, sustainable packaging and managing the relationship consumers have with the products . The better we can engineer these relationship the better we can increase competitiveness by being circular. It was felt that we can no longer compete by throwing things always. The example was given of oranges for making orange juice, Pul is often waste, skin is wasted. However if in addition to juice pulp is used and fermented for vinegar and alcohol there is added value. If the skin and rhine is taken and extracted for rhine used for cosmetics there is an added value, By doing so there is increased competitiveness, less waste and several opportunities to improve quality, expand the market, create jobs and make food system more sustainable and resilient. Seeds can be dried and used to grow new trees which can be distributed to farmers, community or even integrated into orchids of the processing business. this was one of several examples used to emphasize the concept. Mango , Coconut, Sugarcane , Pumpkin and Sapodilla were other examples used. Making agriculture zero waste and renewable was a concept advocated by the group developing the standards and the quality infrastructure for circular economy principles to be accelerated and scaled in agriculture and food system is of critical importance to the achievement of a net zero society There is need to implement training and education programmes that promote and advance this concept of business. There is a need for increase levels of grant, concessionary finance and loans to support agri entrepreneurs to apply and scale these circular economy concepts. there is also a need to provide funding to support development of social enterprises, community based organizations, clusters and others who may be capitalizing and innovating in the waste stream in partnership with others in the value chain. regional and National incentives should help bromote both agri business development, agro processing and the widespread deployment of circular practices and principles including the incorporation of renewables/sustainable technologies aquaponics and vertical hydroponics provide a good example of applying the circular economy principles and concept into a business model. Wider application, integration into schools, community gardens and other projects with clusters can have significant impacts in making agribusiness viable and sustainable Local, regional and International Funding and support should also cater to and provide access to resources to pay for mentorship, consultancy, coaching in marketing, quality assurance, food safety, food safety planning, climate smart and resilient practices, implementing circular economy principles and practices, HACCP, GMPs, GAPs and son on to help agri entrepreneurs take their businesses to the next level. Participants advocated for more non reimbursable grants as opposed to the reimbursable model in most incentives programmes. They felt the focus should be on realizing impact and not placing barriers on the farmers or processors having to find funds to participate in the funding programme. Access to land and facilities for start ups, and cluster organizations of women, ex prisoners, youth and differently abled and social organizations promoting their interest was raised. It was felt that moratoriums, lease access and making available in manageable proportions unused viable state lands to these groups. Governments around the region need to prioritize access, reduce barriers to access. Read less

This dialogue examined the potentiality of improving our food systems using circular economy principles and models. With it potential benefits to impact on the agriculture, water, energy and waste management nexus issues, reducing the GHGS from agriculture, potential to improve soil health and to help increase participation in formal economy by informal sectors, participants shall explore what actions can be taken now to unlock the power of circularity to develop a more sustainable and resilient food system by 2030. After a short framing panel discussion by curators. Participants were broken i... Read morento seven facilitated discussion groups outlined below 1. Optimizing the food system value chain 2. Improving soil health using circular economy principles 3. Incentivizing Circularity 4. Financing Circular Principles 5. Public Awareness and Social Marketing of Circular Economy Principles and Practices 6. Building sustainable agribusiness 7. Circular Economy for Livestock Production Read less

Data and scientific information is going to be critical to planning and monitoring the benefits and tradeoff of the circular economy Managing the nexus in agriculture, food, water, waste energy will provide the greatest opportunities to make food system more resilient, sustainable and circular there is need to improve consumer awareness and help them to better play their role in th food system as relates to the proper management of waste There is a need to provide opportunities to share success stories in a simplified interactive format Need for Education and a Design that contemplates circula... Read morerity throughout. National and regional programmes needed to support sorting waste at the various sources in the chain , from individual, community and commercial. Find opportunities to scale that sorting and enable the development of downstream sectors that also place emphasis on creating opportunities for the informal sectors Scale education programmes in composting/organizing/producing biofertilizers, enabling health biodiversity and ecosystem vitality by managing the waste flow etc Need to emphasize bottom up approach There is need to localize financing to support. There is need for greater cooperation There is also a need for innovative financing /ESG investment strategies that provide support for circularity in agriculture and food the food system participants need to work together to find ways to help manage waste flows. Contemplate using less, and placing greater emphasis on energy and power generation where practicable. Read less

Optimizing the food system value chain There is a need for Collaboration across the Civil Sector, Private Sector, Academia, Communities and UN agencies to help scale actions in the circular economy A coordinating mechanism should be created regionally and nationally to guide and direct action on the circular economy in agriculture. The ISO Technical committees in Circular Economy, Climate Action Food, and other related areas should be incorporated into the national and regional efforts to scale actions on circularity in agriculture and in food systems Scaling Action is key Harmonization the ef... Read moreforts in the Foot System and Climate Action Standardization. Standardization efforts will also be critical especially standards pertaining to separation of waste, community scale collection of organic waste and other efforts to transform a loosely organized effort into a coordinated effort that can be scaled for the benefits to environment and the economy there is a need to create, map and expand job market and build trust in the process Managed and Facilitated Collaboration between civil society, academic, government, farmers and others in food system is critical to scaling action, assuring efficient and effective execution and sustainability Branding, Marketing, Awareness and Promotion is critical . Simple, effective and technologically enhanced ways should be found to promote and advance circular principles and practices across the food system. Optimization cannot take place in silos, vacuum and pockets b ut requires action on the entire system Read less

El diálogo “Nutre tu Optimismo” se centró en los patrones de consumo actuales y en el cambio por unos modelos más sostenibles, enfocados en los retos y oportunidades que se presentan en la provincia de Málaga, Andalucía. Se reflexionó sobre las posibles acciones que podríamos llevar a cabo para que dicha transformación sostenible sea una realidad en nuestras localidades. Para poder realizar cualquier tipo de cambio, primero, necesitamos ser conscientes de los problemas urgentes que hay en el sistema alimentario de nuestra vecindad. Por ello, nos vimos en la necesidad de contar con ... Read moreel conocimiento de nuestros expertos locales para identificar las dificultades y apoyarnos en el desarrollo de acciones. ¿Cómo podemos motivar a los consumidores, a la industria y a los responsables políticos a realizar un cambio en la forma de consumo alimentario? Para responder a esta pregunta empezamos enfocándonos en la sobreexplotación de los recursos naturales y poniendo especial foco en los riesgos que nuestro consumo actual tiene para la salud de los niños y niñas. Read less

Es importante reconocer la abrumadora complejidad del sistema alimentario, como dijo uno de nuestros participantes: “Es como una montaña en la que no puedo ver cómo marcar la diferencia, especialmente con la oposición que recibimos de esta sociedad motivada por el dinero”. Sin embargo, vemos que hay mucho optimismo. Mientras nos damos cuenta de que necesitaremos mucho coraje, fuerza y motivación para cambiar el sistema alimentario, también sabemos que necesitamos más conocimiento sobre el proceso de elaboración de los alimentos y de cada paso que este ha tenido que dar antes de lleg... Read morear a nuestro plato. El poder del consumidor está sobreestimado, veamos por qué: • La industria del marketing utiliza incontroladamente estrategias de “lavado verde”, lo que hace que sea muy difícil identificar verdaderos alimentos saludables. • La información en las etiquetas es demasiado difícil de leer y entender para cualquier persona. Especialmente para aquellas con enfermedades como la diabetes es bastante complicado encontrar alimentos sin azúcares ocultos. • La abundancia de alimentos disponibles en los supermercados significa que no estamos respetando el ritmo natural de los alimentos, así como de los recursos naturales que han sido empleados para su producción y distribución. • Convivir con el mundo de la comida rápida y prefabricadas es difícil de resistir. • Cuando vamos a un restaurante, ¿cómo saber qué ingredientes están usando? • Muchas personas llevan una vida cargada de estrés. La difícil conciliación entre el trabajo, los hijos y la vida social no permite a las personas tomarse el tiempo necesario para ir de compras y tomar decisiones conscientes, verificando de dónde proviene el producto. A menudo compran alimentos prefabricados que están etiquetados como saludables y que pueden ser preparados en poco tiempo. • A pesar de que la pandemia de la COVID-19 ha influido en la manera que tenemos de comprar, optando por los mercados que quedan más cerca de casa, no hemos cambiado los hábitos alimenticios, pues el estilo de vida y el tiempo limitado dificultan el cambio. El mundo en el que vivimos se basa en un sistema de generación de dinero, este círculo vicioso hace que la producción de alimentos sea lo más barata posible para poder lograr el máximo beneficio, sin sumar los costos de salud, la reducción de la calidad de vida y los costos del cambio climático. PRODUCCIÓN ALIMENTARIA: • Los peces producidos en piscifactorías, tratados con hormonas y antibióticos como la panga, tienen efectos secundarios para nuestra salud. • Los pescadores tradicionales están siendo expulsados por las grandes empresas pesqueras, lo que no es sostenible es rentable para sus bolsillos. • El almacenamiento de alimentos frescos, a veces durante años, antes de que se vendan en la tienda pierden valor nutritivo. • Algunos “bio productos” no respetan la vida de los animales, un ejemplo son las vidas marinas atrapadas en las redes de grandes buques que mueren por nada, ni si quiera para el consumo. También la producción de carne en macro granjas supone un potencial riesgo para la salud de las personas y la de los propios animales que como consecuencia son sacrificados a gran escala. • Métodos de producción para hacer que los alimentos duren más o tengan mejor sabor, como agregar potenciadores del sabor. • La mayoría de los productores ecológicos de la provincia de Málaga son microempresas con una producción limitada. Aunque reciben el apoyo de las autoridades locales, les cuesta adaptarse a los nuevos canales de promoción, tecnología y distribución. Raramente los productos llegan a las grandes superficies. DERECHOS HUMANOS Y ANIMALES • El pescador artesanal que trabaja de manera que protege el medio ambiente, que utiliza métodos de pesca menos agresivos y que no sobrepesca tiene derecho a un salario digno. • Mejorar las condiciones de vida de los animales y evitar las macro granjas. • Alertar de que la mayoría de los lobbies cárnicos manipulan las decisiones del mercado para su propio beneficio. MEDIO AMBIENTE Y CAMBIO CLIMÁTICO • Reducir el material de embalaje y el desperdicio de alimentos, reciclar siempre que sea posible. • Enfocarnos en los productos locales, ecológicos y de kilómetro 0. • Reducir el consumo de carne y volver a la dieta mediterránea. • El calentamiento global está causando problemas en todos los países del mundo, el cambio climático no está permitiendo a poblaciones locales a cultivar sus propios alimentos y como consecuencia tienen que abandonar sus tierras, sus hogares e incluso su país. No vivimos solos en el mundo, todos estamos conectados de muchas formas y lo que ocurre en otros países tarde o temprano terminará afectando al nuestro. Juntos podemos influenciar si dejamos de comprar en comercios insostenibles con el medio ambiente y con nuestra salud. ¿Es correcto comprar nuestro pescado a las grandes empresas cuya forma de trabajar es mala para el ecosistema y que no paga dignamente a sus trabajadores? Los responsables políticos deben fomentar la soberanía alimentaria, los recursos naturales para la población local y detener el capital extranjero que se apodera y explota la tierra. En este momento las autoridades de los cinco continentes se inclinan ante el dinero y el poder de las grandes internacionales. Read less

¿Hay luz al final del túnel? Escuchamos historias que tienen mucho sentido: cómo podemos cambiar el chip y crear una transformación hacia alimentos nutritivos que han sido producidos localmente y sin sufrimiento animal. CONCIENCIACIÓN • La pandemia del Coronavirus 19 nos ha hecho conscientes de la urgente necesidad de cambiar los métodos de producción alimentario y de acortar las líneas de distribución. Necesitamos tomarnos un tiempo para volver a las viejas costumbres como sentarnos juntos a la mesa a comer. • Los animales están siendo sacrificados para alimentarnos, necesitamos... Read more volver a aprender a apreciar la comida como hacen los pueblos indígenas, comer menos carne asegurándose de ingerir suficientes proteínas de las verduras. • Los alimentos producidos ecológicamente son más nutritivos y mejores para el medio ambiente, aunque el suelo ya no sea tan rico como lo era hace 50 años, las frutas y verduras no son tan sabrosas y nutritivas. • ¿Qué tal si encontramos nuevos o viejos héroes de la comida como Popeye el Marino quien fomentó que los niños comieran espinacas? • Comer alimentos procesados puede conducir a la obesidad y no hace que las personas se sientan bien ni se vean bien. ¿Somos conscientes de la influencia que tiene en nuestro cuerpo los venenos ocultos en los “alimentos”? • Tener en cuenta que los planes para cambiar el entorno toman tiempo y avanzan con lentitud, hay que mantenerse positivo, aunque no vea el resultado de un día para otro. • Es importante crear conciencia sobre lo que pasa con los residuos una vez son llevados a los contenedores, el impacto ambiental que tienen, qué se recicla y qué no. ¿Cómo podemos reducir nuestros propios desechos? • Sensibilizar sobre el medio ambiente, la necesidad de cambiar para que más gente se levante y presione a las autoridades para que hagan cambios. Read less

EDUCACIÓN • Aprender a preparar alimentos frescos de temporada y comprender que es importante respetar y conectar con el ritmo natural de la vida, entender que las frutas y verduras necesitan tiempo para madurar, debemos cultivar paciencia. Esto tiene que ser enseñado desde una edad temprana para asegurar un cambio en nuestro sistema alimentario y hacerlo más saludable para el planeta y los seres vivos. • Conocimiento sobre alimentos saludables, los beneficios de los alimentos producidos local y ecológicamente. • Estar informado sobre el desperdicio de alimentos que generan las multi... Read morenacionales, cuyos intereses radican en los accionistas que exigen más ganancias mientras no les interesa proteger el medio ambiente. Por ejemplo, en la industria pesquera se desperdicia pescado si este no les supone suficiente valor económico, por lo cual se tiran montones de productos pesqueros que nunca llegan a ser consumidos. Además, estos grandes buques contaminan las aguas. • Preparar comida saludable en lugar de calentar una comida prefabricada • Enseñar a las familias y a través de las escuelas la importancia de separar los desechos de la manera correcta y reciclarlos cuando sea posible. Read less

ACCIÓN • Necesitamos que los responsables políticos apoyen el movimiento del sistema alimentario sostenible mediante la financiación de campañas de sensibilización. • Comenzando con pasos pequeños y haciendo un cambio en la mente de nuestros hijos lograremos la transformación, siempre con respeto mutuo y siendo positivos. • Apoyar las acciones locales que ya se están llevando a cabo, como los planes educativos para una alimentación sana y sostenible organizados por Cruz Roja que, en estos momentos, está elaborando un mapa de los huertos urbanos / eco sociales de la provincia de... Read more Málaga. • Falta más promoción y difusión de los productos ecológicos, habría que buscar nuevas formas, como estando presentes en pequeños espacios en las televisiones locales. • Líneas de distribución cortas: apoyar a empresas como Sabor a Málaga, que promocionan productos locales. Apoyar también a los huertos familiares sostenibles locales donde se producen frutas y verduras. Incrementar el número de mercados locales donde se venden productos saludables de la zona. • Las rutas de tapas locales o similares podrían llegar a la población local. • Organizar campañas en la calle para informar a las personas sobre cómo reciclar y cómo hacerlo correctamente. • Organizar más diálogos sobre el sistema alimentario y asegurarnos de incluir a personas de todas las generaciones, especialmente niños y adultos jóvenes, que aprendan de sus ideas y su manera de describir el mundo. Necesitamos trabajar juntos, analizando y resolviendo los problemas de nuestra alimentación que impactan a todos los seres vivos de este planeta. • Etiquetas de alimentos, el texto debe ser más grande, para que se pueda leer sin ponerse gafas, se pueden agregar colores y formas para que la información sea más clara. Read less

POLÍTICA • Política contra el lavado verde o “Green Washing” el responsable de engañar a los consumidores conscientes del cambio necesario, pero que caen en las trampas de los engañosos colores verdes y palabras de moda como “eco”, “bio” …entre otros. • Crear espacios para huertos urbanos y huertos verticales ya que favorecen el autoabastecimiento, además, los vecinos aprenderían a cultivar y conocer mejor su alimentación, esto beneficiaría tanto a niños como a adultos. Importante: los huertos urbanos deben estar integrados en la naturaleza y el ecosistema de la zona... Read more. • Los mercadillos locales favorecen circuitos cortos de distribución • Apoyar campañas de educación ambiental a centros escolares sobre alimentación sostenible y las tres “R” (Reducir, Reutilizar y Reciclar) • Hacer que los productos ecológicos sean más accesibles para las personas con escasos recursos económicos. • Hacer que las etiquetas legibles sean obligatorias, nuestra salud depende de ello Read less

Dependiendo de los antecedentes, de la propia experiencia y de sus perspectivas de futuro, los participantes tuvieron miradas distintas respecto al Sistema Alimentario. Los participantes que están involucrados activamente en el sistema alimentario se sienten con mayor capacidad de influencia y por lo tanto se mantienen optimistas. Otro tema de divergencia fueron los monocultivos, sistema de producción agrícola que consiste en dedicar toda la tierra disponible al cultivo de una sola especie vegetal. Mientras la mayoría de los ponentes pensaron que los monocultivos serían un problema serio ... Read morede cara al futuro, uno de los participantes (el que tenía mucha más experiencia en el campo de conservación) dijo que los monocultivos tenderán a reducirse en el futuro ya que entidades conservacionistas a nivel internacional llevan décadas presionando a las autoridades sobre esta problemática y poco a poco se va regularizando y controlando. No obstante, sigue siendo un problema en los países en vías de desarrollo, donde no hay tanto control. El segundo tema donde hubo diferencia de opiniones fue la dieta basada 100% en vegetales y la dieta omnívora. Mientras algunos ponentes argumentaron que la dieta basada en productos de origen animal era muy contaminante, otros participantes puntualizaron que la dieta 100% vegetal no se libraba de tener impacto ambiental. Se habló de los pesticidas, los monocultivos y las semillas transgénicas que se usan en muchos productos 100% vegetales. Todos los ponentes estuvieron finalmente de acuerdo en ambos casos. Read less

Scaling School and Community Gardens using innovative farming techniques (Aquaponics, Hydroponics, Integrative Farming) Designing a sustainable procurement and supply chain that incorporates produce from the school and community gardens is desirable in all instance There needs to be an encouragement, and a wider use of hydroponics and aquaponic=c growing programmes in schools and communities, Financing should be made available to enable scale of the programmes and alignment with Climate Actions These schools and community gardens can be structured to be food hubs and enable social enterprise w... Read morehich can then be reinvested into the development of schools, communities and the welfare needs of the children Partnerships with higher education institutions, civil society and others can play an important role in designing, planning, sustaining and scaling the hydro and aquaponic systems. Partnerships would be key to managing and navigating the interactions and trust required for success the policy environment should enable the alignment of the concepts, scaling of the models, education of stakeholders, governance of social enterprises created and the ongoing partnership and cooperation required Circular economy principles and practices should be designed and integrated into all the school gardens, food hubs and school feeding programmes Read less

Sustainable Procurement in School Feeding Programmes Local and Regionally Procured products should be given preferential treatment. The preference should be given on basis of need to decarbonize the supply chain and also on enabling sustainable livelihoods for local farmers Policies should promote healthy consumption and reduce unhealthy options The procurement needs to go beyond the school feeding to everything procured within school canteens Partnerships across heath, academia, mental health, social work and care would help to better manage the processes that lead to negative effects on heal... Read moreth, mental health and so on A need for Co-ordination: Many contributors believe that there needs to be partnerships between the Ministry of health, education, community, and agriculture; and they need to work together on the four pillars of food supply for schools and communities. They need to help the teachers to help pupils and the community to change current habits. It was recognised that there are not enough staff currently available, but that has to be addressed if there is to be a change in current habits, and health. Agriculture is seen as an industry that only elderly people are interested in. [it’s not for the young Ed.] And many of these elderly farmers [due to the pressures and economics Ed.] believe that they can’t waste a day to go on a training course. Again, a reinforcing downward spiral resulting in little progress. This logjam needs breaking and that will only happen effectively with coordinated governmental intervention across many ministries. As farming and agriculture is viewed as a non-career, only external programmes will be able to change these perceptions. Particularly for youth, and through the curriculum. As there is a shortage of labour to check on food quality, oversee good practice (there is over use of fertilisers and pesticides), and assist with training, perhaps students studying agricultural practice, could be encouraged to spend more time working with local farmers on appropriate practices and routes forward. Read less

Assuring food safety in school feeding programs The implementation of Good Agriculture Practices, Good Manufacturing Practices, HACCP, risk Assessment and so on should be implemented and verified throughout the school feeding value chain. Food safety management system standards and certification /Third Party Assurance should be incorporated into the management regimes of the school feeding programme Principals and teachers should also receive basic food safety awareness. All food handlers should receive a bit more that basic food safety when involved in school feeding programmes Partnerships a... Read morecross the value chain can have a significant impact of both quality and safety of food provided. Partnerships with business, academia, civil social and social work sectors can all have impact on assuring both food safety and quality in schools. These relationships may also result in win win for businesses as they would better meet the needs of the schools "children" in a cost effective, efficient and affordable manner realizing many co benefits regarding healthier products and no loss of revenue streams Read less

Reducing food waste in school feeding Circular economy principles, practices and models need to be implemented throughout value chain to reduce food loss and waste Excess food should be given to homes and donated to poor where practicable and safe There was an expressed view that there needs to be a ‘champion’ to intervene for the children to champion healthy fresh food. Teacher’s in agriculture at schools can grow food for the canteen and for sale to other teachers and the community. Mainly vegetables are grown, but the quantities are smallish. Tend to be a project for the pupils and no... Read moret a sustained activity. Some schools do have chickens and small ruminants; but these are few in number. There are supposed to be food hygiene and safety checks, but there was a lack of knowledge about how in practice the inspectors are trained or how they organise their visits which are infrequent due to staffing levels. There are some schools that were originally built around agriculture with specialist teachers trained on how to run ‘Forage Clubs’. Some schools have an annual ‘Forage Fair’ which is judged by the Ministry of Agriculture. Teachers in charge of agriculture are trained in agricultural practice and basic animal husbandry, but it was reported that there is a lack of knowledge about Post harvest management, crop storage, and annual cycle management. Agriculture should be taught in schools, but [as reported, in some schools Ed.] after form three it is reportedly dropped and, in some schools, it is no longer on the syllabus at all. Community and Food: In the community, many families don’t cook anymore. There is a belief that we [society Ed.] we need to retrain people to buy, prepare wholesome food and to eat properly and eat nutritious food. It is seen as essential to get information about food to people whilst they are young so that good eating habits, and respect for food, stay with them for life. There is some general confusion about how to handle food that has been designated for human consumption. Once designated [the protocols for this were unknown Ed.] any leftover food cannot be disposed of easily. The concern is that such food may ‘spoil’ but still be in circulation for consumption. The Covid19 pandemic has added to the health problems of children. As they take less exercise, but consume high carbohydrate snacks, they are tending to obesity. [with all the attendant on-costs to society through health interventions Ed.] There is also a government feeding programme for lower income families. The scheme is called PATH for which recipients need to register in order to get the food delivered to their children’s school. A view of Agriculture: Career advice appears to follow the general perception of agriculture. i.e. ‘if you are not very bright you can go into agriculture’. If you go into farming, you are perceived to be no good at anything else. [this of course is weak career advice and re-enforces stereotyping of the industry Ed.] The industry is not seen as attractive. One repeated theme was the collapse of knowledge about where food comes from, what is nutritious, how to prepare food, and what is good for life, right across the community. [this can become a reinforcing downward spiral Ed.] Belief that if you are going to cook food then you need to know where it is from and how to grow it. The Ministry of agriculture runs a BTIS [? Ed.] extension training course. Again, the post crop handling of produce is seen as important as large percentages of crops are lost due to poor handling, and that it is perceived as poor quality against an arbitrary scale. i.e. not attractive enough for the consumer to buy it. But is still wholesome. At prestige schools, there is no training of agricultural or practical skills as they focus on academic subjects only. One contributor reported that there is a large governmental fund available, but they don’t know how it will be divided out or how to properly access it. Read less

Trade barriers should not be used as means of promoting use of local food only and restricting trade and competition. While systems should enable better flows and use of local food it should not be restrictive to other markets entering the market to provide affordable food. Such practices can have adverse effects on other markets and also limit access to excess production of regional food to export Implementation of standards throughout value chain may not necessitate certifications or adherence to expensive certification schemes. However there should be affordable means of varying the safety ... Read morepractices and processes throughout Read less