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Social safety nets: i. Continue making government social safety nets more nutrition and gender sensitive. In this regard, it is important to emphasize on fully implementing the National Social Security Strategy (NSSS) which has adopted a life-cycle approach to address the need of people at every stage of their lives. The emphasis on making the safety nets more nutrition and gender sensitive will allow the country to ensure access to nutritious food at an affordable rate for the poor whose livelihood strategies have been disrupted either by climate related shocks or due to COVID-19 crisis. ii. ... Read moreIntroduce ways to be more responsive to an increasingly mobile population, anticipating increasing mobility of vulnerable groups driven by economic as well as environmental events. For this, the GoB can try to transfer cash to the potential beneficiaries by utilizing mobile financial technology. Important to note that at the union level, the government has the necessary infrastructure (e.g. Union Digital Centres or UDCs) to facilitate this transformation. iii. Strengthen data management to track vulnerable populations and individuals to allow rapid response in times of stress and sudden-onset shocks and allow the provision of complementary packages across sectors including health, G2P and food assistance. iv. Explore ways to integrate private sector, including local shops and producers, in social safety nets, linking them to smallholder farmers and food producers, transformers and aggregators, to ensure diversity of diets. Read less

Key themes emerging from the dialogue indicates that from a building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress (Action Track 5) perspective, in Bangladesh the focus needs to be on two main drivers of stress, shocks and vulnerabilities: (1) nature driven shocks, stress and vulnerabilities, primarily originating from climate change, but possibly also linked to earthquakes or similar events, (2) economic and human driven shocks, which may originate from pandemics (e.g. COVID-19), other economy shocks (e.g. the 2008 global financial crisis) or manmade conflicts (e.g. the Rohingya crisis). O... Read moref these two types of shocks, the first one can disrupt the entire food system by affecting the agricultural production and increasing salinity of land. On the other hand, the economic and human driven shocks may interrupt gains achieved by the country in domains of food security and nutrition, increase poverty and inequality, and jeopardize people’s access to food. These two drivers jointly pose the greatest threat to Bangladesh’s effort in building a resilient food system. While taking part in the dialogue, the participants also have pointed out that the mechanisms to address these vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses can be organized along three key sectors that are likely to address both the nature driven and economic and human driven shocks. These three response areas are: • The social protection system which is covering close to 40% of the population in Bangladesh, • The agriculture sector that is employing close to 50% of the population mainly in rural areas, • The Industrial sector employing 20-30% of the population including part of the informal sector mainly in urbanized areas. Across all sectors adaptation, response and preparedness mechanisms needs to be nutrition sensitive and gender responsive. The GoB should play the leadership role while designing and implementing actions in line with national programming and planning while ensuring complementarity to government budgeting. Moreover, greater involvement of and investment by the private sector actors need to be ensured with a focus on increasing diversity, including biodiversity, of production and consumption. Read less

National Dialogues on Action Track 5: Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stress have taken place in more than 130 countries. In Bangladesh, the virtual Independent National Dialogue on the Action Track 5 was held on 2nd of June 2021. The dialogue was conducted under the leadership of the National UNFSS Dialogue Convener, Additional Secretary at Ministry of Food, Mr. Khaja Abdul Hannan with support from the World Food Programme (WFP), UN Anchor for Action Track 5, and International Center for Climate Change and Development (ICCAD), technical lead for Action Track 5. The keynote spe... Read moreech was given by the Director of ICCAD, Professor Saleemul Huq, and the synthesis of the panel discussion was done by Professor Shamsul Alem, Senior Secretary at the Economic Division, Planning Commission, and Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Chairman at Power Participation Research Centre. The dialogue was structured around a panel discussion building on three major themes related to building resilience to ensure food security and access to nutritious food in the Bangladeshi context. The themes of the panel discussion and panel members are outlined below: Panel Discussion 1: Food Systems and Resilience This panel was chaired by Dr Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum, Honourable Secretary, Ministry of Food. The discussants included Mr. Robert Simpson, Country Representative FAO Bangladesh and Ms. Farah Kabir, Country Director, Action Aid Bangladesh participated. The panel discussion was guided by the three following questions: i. What are the priority investment areas for Bangladesh to address the multiple risks of climate change and natural disasters? ii. How can local production and consumption be incentivized to protect nutrition and environment? iii. What can be learned from the current pandemic which clearly has been a major shock for Bangladesh, in identifying the vulnerabilities in the food systems to shock, and how food systems can be made more resilient? Panel Discussion 2: Universal Access to Food to build Resilience The Universal Access to Food to Build Resilience panel was chaired by Mr, Md Sayedul Islam, Honourable Secretary, Ministry of Women and Children. The discussants included Mr. Rezaul Karim, Head of Programme, World Food Program and Mr. Md Rafiqul Islam, Deputy Secretary General, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society. The panel discussion was guided by the three following questions: i. How can food systems be made more nutrition sensitive, thus ensuring that meals not only address hunger but also meet all requirements for healthy growth and living? ii. What are the key lessons from the response to the pandemic that can be used to ensure sustained access to nutritious diets even in times of shocks? iii. How can Government work with the private sector to protect the right to food? Panel Discussion 3: Climate Resilient Development Pathways The panel discussion was chaired by Mr. Md Mohsin, Honourable Secretary, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. The discussants included Dr Mahbuba Nasreen, Director and Professor, Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies, Dhaka University and Mr. Khurshid Alam, Assistant Resident Representative, UNDP. The panel discussion was guided by the three following questions: i. What are the key steps for enhancing resilience of those affected by climate change? ii. What are the three main impediments to integrated approaches for climate change adaptation and how can these be addressed? iii. What would be the three strategic directions for the private sector to transform food systems for climate resilient development? Read less

Few areas of divergence were addressed in the session: 1. Technology vs traditional farming There were debates over whether the use of technology will truly change productivity. Traditional farming, or its more recent agroecology methods have argued that this is a way forward - reducing the reliance on pesticides etc to build a production system that includes diversity, human and social values. However, others have argued that traditional farming methods will not be able to increase productivity. 2. Stakeholders to spearhead the effort of transformation While everyone agreed that evolving the ... Read morefood system will require a multi-stakeholder approach, there are differing views of who should take the lead. Some believe that government and politicians should stay out from taking the lead as they do not have the incentive to ensure sustainable food systems, others believe that government play a crucial role in defining policies. Experts in nutrition should have a bigger role in advising NGOs etc on how to be more nutrition-sensitive in their action. Read less

Environment sustainability of food systems Below are some of the approaches which can be taken to build environment sustainability in food systems. 1. Altering the usual approach to grow monoculture crops. 2. Address large-scale deforestation which are a consequence of large-scale planting of commercial crops.

Technology as an important factor for the future of food production Some ideas on using technologies to truly benefit farmers and increase productivity as follow: 1.Training younger generation at school and university levels on design, software, marketing etc that build capacity for the agriculture sector. 2. Technology start-up competition focused on the food system. 3.Increase transparency on the food system, including on genetically modified feeds etc. 4. Modernising aquaculture and agriculture.

Changing consumption habits for better nutrition Some ideas on changing consumption include: 1. Bringing agriculture closer to schools through small farming plots in schools. 2. Basic knowledge of food culture to be taught at home by parents. 3. Local government and housing ministry to create awareness on food through encouraging urban farming. 4. Bringing food preparation lessons for children in schools. 5. Increasing the consumption and knowledge of underutilised crops in Southeast Asia

Food production is about transforming the society, beyond feeding the society Some of the ideas in transforming the society beyond feeding the society is as follows: 1. Developing community-based agriculture that leverage on local biodiversity. 2. Developing opportunities for indigenous communities, including on being part of the organic food production. 3. Building an ecosystem with incentives to foster multi-stakeholder effort. 4. Urban farming as a solution for the urban poor to obtain some nutritious food items, requiring policy action and civil society movement. 5. Movements such as agroe... Read morecology, which takes into account the whole ecosystem of diversity, human and social values. Read less

Creating nutrition-sensitive food systems in Southeast Asia is an all-of society movement, involving dialogues, actions and cooperation between different stakeholders, from government to civil society. More research and data analysis will be important to define policies and ways forward. From the four breakout discussion rooms, several important themes emerge: 1. Food production is about transforming the society, beyond feeding the society: Throughout the discussion, food production cannot be just about producing enough food for the population. Instead, food production is intricately interlink... Read moreed with incomes, livelihoods and nutrition provided to the society. Food producers come from many different communities, some coming from vulnerable and poor groups such as indigenous communities in rural area. Thus, ways to improve incomes for these food producers much be in consideration, including the provision of high quality seeds and training farmers. On the consumer end, especially with the COVID-19 impact, many households have reduced incomes, and thus may not be able to afford food. This is especially so for urban poor and refugee communities who do not have access to land to produce their own food. Urban farming can be a way forward to secure their food availability. Another important discussion is over the question of importation and production - some participants are of the view that countries should encourage greater production within the country, however there are also concerns over whether the higher cost of production for country might have other negative effects. While policymakers, private sector and civil societies are progressing to evolve into a more socially-sustainable food production, the lack of political will and leadership may pose a threat to the ongoing efforts to strengthen the social aspect of food production. 2. Changing consumption habits for better nutrition The discussion over changing consumption habits revolved around changing the habits of children's eating habits - it would be difficult for adults to change their eating habits accumulated after decades. While schools can play a role in educating the next generation, parents need to be educated in how to provide healthy and nutritious food. Hosting school farms can bring children closer to food production, sensitising them to food production. Thus, changing nutrition habits will require a look at the entire food supply chain. Another change some participants proposed is the changing choices for more higher-end but not necessarily healthy food, where food away from home which are highly processed have taken precedence. 3. Technology as an important factor for the future of food production Another important discussion revolves around the use of technology in food production and the food supply chain. New technologies are acknowledged as important drivers of the future of agriculture. Some have raised important questions on how technologies may not yield the promised greater productivity - where methods such as agroecology argue that these more natural methods are better. Others raised the issue that while new technologies are better, the cost of using new technologies can be prohibitive and raises the cost. For older farmers, learning to use new technologies may be a significant barrier to adoption. Before these technologies can be introduced, basic digital infrastructures, such as internet and mobile connection needs to be established. This is on top of transportation infrastructures such as road network and irrigation network. Therefore, even if new technologies can benefit the farmer, basic infrastructures must be in place beforehand. 4. Environment sustainability of food systems Environment sustainability is an important part of the discussion on food systems. One important feature is to avoid monoculture in agriculture, which endanger the sustainability of production. There were debates over whether plant-based production might encourage greater monoculture, however there are ways to mitigate that. Read less

Food and agriculture are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda, hence, making food systems sustainable is key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The dialogue is designed to identify priorities and action plans to transform the food systems in Southeast Asia. The four major focus of the Dialogue is: • nutrition-sensitive and sustainable food production, including strengthening local area food production, development of traditional and alternative foods. • resilient and sustainable food supply chain, while ensuring sustainable livelihoods. • accessibility and affordability of nutrit... Read moreious food. • nutrition-sensitive capacity development for better nutritional outcomes, including exploring culturally appropriate approaches. Read less

Existió divergencia entre actores que promovieron incentivos de tipo económico, y quienes los ven muy difíciles de conseguir en este momento en el país, o al menos sería algo de más largo plazo. También hubo un caso que genera un reto o disyuntiva. Se conoce de programas de alimentación para población escolar, pero por temas de transparencia, protocolos, y presupuestos, cuando hay excedente de producto ese se trata de distribuir rápidamente si es perecedero, se almacena para la entrega del próximo mes si es no perecedero y se destruye si no se logra colocar; al ser un bien provenien... Read morete de presupuesto público no es tan fácil proceder a una donación. En síntesis, estos aspectos podrán ser subsanados y gestionados justamente al propiciar mayor avance en el análisis de estudios previos sobre la política y acciones de donación en el país, así como la puesta en marcha de propuestas, pilotos, retroalimentación de lo existente y la incorporación del tema en la agenda nacional para tomar decisiones articuladas. Read less

Un tercer y último aspecto se centró en Actores por considerar: además de actores protagónicos en la donación (empresas y comercios que den servicio de alimentación, productores primarios y de procesamiento de distinta escala, mercados, organizaciones receptoras), se consideró importante involucrar al consumidor (como potencial donante también y voluntario), a las municipalidades como entes gestores (podrán hacer campañas, facilitar estructuralmente los procesos, dar información.), a las Universidades (para capacitación y extensión en diversos temas como manejo poscosecha, manipul... Read moreación, procesamiento, gestión del residuo), las Juntas de Educación y otros entes públicos que de alguna manera se relacionan en programas de distribución de alimentos (para que igualmente sean observadores de buenas prácticas y/o se sumen a la donación), Ministerios de diverso tipo (economía, hacienda, comercio, producción primaria e industrial, ambiente, asistencia social, salud), Organismos internacionales y Redes intersectoriales existentes Read less

Como comentarios que apunten a una mayor y mejor implementación de acciones y política de donación de alimentos, se comento sobre el Monitoreo y cumplimiento: Si bien se consideró que el monitoreo y cumplimiento siempre son grandes retos en política pública, se sugirió el levantamiento de estadísticas (originadas por parte del donante y por parte del receptor) así como la trazabilidad hacia adelante para dar a conocer a los donantes qué se hace con su producto donado. Se cree que la tecnología como apps de alimentación en tiempo real de datos puede ser un gran aliado. Se indicó la... Read more importancia de inventariar las acciones existentes dentro y fuera de Costa Rica, ver casos exitosos y sus mecanismos de monitoreo para considerar la generación del caso nacional, y generar protocolos, normas y guías de buenas prácticas que permitirán listas de chequeo de cumplimiento. La transparencia en el beneficiario final (con cuidado de su anonimato a nivel público) es necesaria también pues al “llegar a manos equivocadas” las ayudas se desincentiva al donante. Se pueden tener ejemplos los procesos de donación durante la pandemia y la labor de los Banco de Alimentos como caso de éxito, así como lineamiento que se avanzaron para donación aunque no llegó a concretarse su aprobación final. Read less

Se resume a continuación lo discutido por los participantes en torno a los tópicos de discusión propuestos que fueron abordados, a saber: 1) Inocuidad alimentaria para la donación, 2) Esquemas de etiquetado de fechas, 3) Protección del donante, 4) Políticas fiscales, 5) Requisitos de donación y regulaciones por desperdicio de alimentos, 6) Subvenciones e incentivos gubernamentales y 7) Consideraciones sobre poblaciones vulnerables y nutrición. Es posible que algunos de ellos no se enfatizaran y no por esto resulten menos relevantes, pero suponen no estar entre los prioritarios para el ... Read moregrupo de asistentes al Diálogo y requerirán más estudio. 1) Inocuidad alimentaria para la donación: este aspecto fue constante a lo largo de todas las discusiones de los grupos e incluso de varios ejes temáticos, donde bajo ninguna circunstancia deberá obviarse la necesidad de garantizar la inocuidad del alimento durante el proceso de donación. 2) Esquemas de etiquetado de fechas: al faltar una política puntual, muchas veces falta claridad o se aplican limitaciones al momento de donación para los productos envasados, habiendo confusión entre los vocablos de “preferiblemente antes de” o “fecha de vencimiento”. 3) Protección del donante: existe temor por parte de donantes, así que aquellos procesos de protección legal pero con igual rigurosidad del aseguramiento de la inocuidad son necesarios, incluso haciendo la diferenciación entre los términos de “donación” y “redistribución”. 4) Políticas fiscales: las políticas como exoneración de impuestos ya existen en el país pero podrán ser fortalecidas pues no existe como tal una política de dominio nacional y y clara para la donación 5) Requisitos de donación y regulaciones por desperdicio de alimentos: más que regulaciones sancionatorias, se enfocó en los procesos que realmente sean habilitantes. 6) Subvenciones e incentivos gubernamentales: este aspecto se consideró vital como parte de Elementos normativos y de política para donación de alimentos, sea que se tratara de incentivos económicos directos, o bien de facilidad en otros procesos, distinciones, facilidad de trámites 7) Consideraciones sobre poblaciones vulnerables y nutrición: la consideración de mantener todas las visiones (económica, ambiental y social) debe estar presente para los actores del proceso de donación, pero es vital también considerar la sensibilidad sobre aspectos nutricionales en el proceso. Por ejemplo, una de las organizaciones ha manifestado que reciben bajo cierto protocolo casi todo tipo de producto alimenticio y cuidan que el beneficiario al que le distribuyan el producto no esté conformado principalmente por población vulnerable a cierto factor nutricional previsto en el producto donado. Read less

Dentro de los principales hallazgos de la actividad, se determinó que existe interés y voluntad de múltiples partes interesada por abordar la donación de alimentos como una solución de múltiples efectos, sean estos en seguridad alimentaria y nutricional, o en la responsabilidad empresarial y la gestión integral de residuos y recursos productivos. En mayor detalle, la discusión arrojó tanto aspectos habilitantes y propuestas, como preocupaciones, y barreras para el proceso, lo cual se discute a continuación. Barreras para la donación: los participantes indicaron que los donantes pued... Read moreen tener temor de recibir de recibir una demanda por donar productos con fecha pronta al vencimiento (no es permitido en el país) o que ya no sea inocuo. Así mismo, manifestaron que los trámites y tiempo de espera para acceder a organizaciones ya existentes y canalizar sus donaciones ágilmente, la comunicación fácil y la información sistematizada (cómo donar, dónde donar) son limitantes del proceso. Existen barreras en la correcta manipulación de los alimentos y los planes nutricionales en los comedores de las organizaciones receptoras de alimentos donados, sea por capacidades técnicas, tecnológicas o de conocimiento. Por ejemplo, pueden existir tanto donantes como receptores que no tengan claridad en lo que se considera desperdicio y lo que sí es aprovechable, puede haber problemas de logística referente a la movilización de los productos donados, se desconocen protocolos y leyes relacionadas y falta una visión de circularidad y ampliación el proceso incluso a una gestión eficiente de los residuos que lamentablemente siempre se generarán. La planificación y el recurso humano (voluntariado) es un reto tanto para actores productivos como para receptores, pues por un lado las sobreestimaciones de demanda hacen que se generen excedentes que a veces son difíciles de gestionar, pero las fluctuaciones también generan retos para los receptores quienes a veces tienen exceso de productos y en otros momentos escasez. Finalmente, se recalcó en varios grupos la necesidad de comunicar, sensibilizar y educar al consumidor, los productores, los empresarios y los actores institucionales sobre el tema y la necesidad de considerarlo en la gestión de los alimentos, pues hubo actores que indicaron no estar totalmente familiarizados con esta temática. Aspectos habilitantes: se mencionaron ejemplos de proyectos e iniciativas que ya están en ejecución, como son el Banco de Alimentos, Alimentalistas, Fundación Lloverá y muchas otras que mantienen alianzas o relación entre sí y con otros organismos para conectar a donantes con organismos sin fines de lucro que llevarán el alimento a beneficiarios finales; igualmente existen proyectos institucionales como en la central mayorista del PIMA-CENADA donde 16 organizaciones registradas colaboran con voluntariado para acopiar y redistribuir de manera ordenada productos que los concesionarios donan o desean redistribuir. Adicionalmente, se manifestó que ya existen alianzas y plataformas multisectoriales como la Red Costarricense para Disminución de Pérdida y Desperdicio de Alimentos que promueven el tema y lo analizan en espacios como el de hoy, manteniendo presente otras posibilidades de alianzas directas con la academia para capacitación e investigación, con la Cruz Roja y sus campañas, entre otras. Los procesos de rendición de cuentas transparentes pueden habilitar y motivar a más donaciones y se puede hacer uso de galardones como el Programa Bandera Azul Ecológica en su categoría “desperdicio de alimentos” para evidenciar y replicar buenas prácticas como la donación. Paralelamente, evitar el residuo por desperdicio de alimentos supone el avance en otros marcos ya existentes como el sello “Carbono Neutro” o bien el monitoreo del avance a nivel país, empresarial o institucional respecto a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible. Vías para generar cambios deseables en la donación de alimentos: existió coincidencia entre los actores sobre el rol que los incentivos podría jugar en potenciar la donación de alimentos, al igual que aspectos relacionados a sensibilización y fomento de capacidades. Por un lado, la sensibilización podrá despertar el interés de muchos actores del sistema alimentario (un empresario contó que su empresa empezó a donar alimentos cuando se enteró en el 2020 del concurso #SinDesperdicioCentroamérica y reconoció la seriedad del problema del desperdicio alimentario). Por otro lado, el fomento de capacidades podrá permear en aspectos técnicos de manipulación e inocuidad del producto (tanto en receptores como en usuarios finales, pues a veces se rescata el producto en el punto de producción pero se desperdicia en estas últimas fases de esta cadena alternativa de suministro); mejor planeamiento, conservación y distribución de alimentos, así como en el conocimiento de consumidores y actores productivos sobre entidades que pueden realizar la distribución, los requisitos, cuidados y mecanismos de la donación. La inserción de la temática de gestión ambiental y de residuos también podrá ayudar a potenciar el proceso o bien aprovechar aun elementos presentes en los residuos que finalmente se generen, y la facilitación de infraestructura local o comunitaria podrá hacer más eficiente el proceso de acopio y distribución. Read less

A más de un año de la aparición y la propagación de la pandemia del nuevo coronavirus (COVID-19), los sistemas alimentarios en su integralidad se vieron afectados y se estima que demanda de asistencia alimentaria se mantienen en su punto más alto, con aproximadamente 115 millones de personas más que han caído en la pobreza extrema con claros riesgos de inseguridad alimentaria y hambre. En contraste, la problemática de la pérdida y el desperdicio de alimentos no necesariamente se cree que haya disminuido, con los consecuentes efectos ambientales, económicos y sociales que conlleva. Pa... Read moreralelamente, los bancos de alimentos y las organizaciones de recuperación de alimentos que facilitan la donación han ayudado a abordar tanto los retos de seguridad alimentaria, hambre y pobreza, como los de reducción de desperdicio de alimentos, al recuperar y reorientar estos bienes que de otro modo se desperdiciarían. Sin embargo, a pesar del potencial de la donación de alimentos para estos aspectos, la discusión debe ser ampliada a nivel global y en aquellas naciones que parecen seguir teniendo retos en su andamiaje político y prácticas existentes. Costa Rica no escapa del fenómeno, y por eso la Red Costarricense para Disminución de Pérdida y Desperdicio de Alimentos junto al Banco de Alimentos de Costa Rica convocó a este Diálogo con apoyo de la FLPC de la Universidad de Harvard, FAO en Costa rica y el TEC (academia), teniendo por foco principal el “Facilitar el diálogo entre los sectores público, privado, academia, y organizaciones no gubernamentales sobre las formas de optimizar los procesos de donación de alimentos en el país y reducir el desperdicio”. La actividad sumó a formuladores de políticas, donantes, académicos, expertos y organizaciones de recuperación de alimentos sobre las prioridades de las acciones, y el avance factible y alcanzable de los esfuerzos de donación de alimentos, en torno a siete áreas temáticas con una serie de preguntas guía que orientaron la discusión desde los umbrales y objetivos por considerar, hasta el diseño de políticas y prácticas de donación, su implementación y los actores por involucrar. Respecto a la temática, las áreas de 1) Inocuidad alimentaria para la donación, 2) Esquemas de etiquetado de fechas, 3) Protección del donante, 4) Políticas fiscales, 5) Requisitos de donación y regulaciones por desperdicio de alimentos, 6) Subvenciones e incentivos gubernamentales y 7) Consideraciones sobre poblaciones vulnerables y nutrición, fueron parte constante de la discusión. Finalmente, dada la complejidad del tema al igual que sus múltiples beneficios al ser abordado, las Vías de acción 1, 2 y 5 se vieron reflejada a lo largo de la actividad. Como parte de la agenda y con el fin de cumplir con el objetivo propuesto, se tuvo una fase introductoria que expuso el tema y hallazgos de estudios internacionales sobre políticas de donación de alimentos, y luego se hicieron subgrupos de discusión, para luego retornar a una plenaria de síntesis. Read less

Sustainable diets and national biodiversity: Organic agriculture was understood by some as a benchmark of sustainability and a way to ensure more nutritious food, being contested by others for understanding that it is only a benchmark for certification that may eventually allow destructive practices for nature, namely, for biodiversity (does not protect the soil, uses agrochemicals, etc.) and that there is no clear scientific evidence that biological products have a higher nutritional content. Sustainable diets and imported deforestation: Some participants pointed to reducing meat consumption ... Read moreas one of the most effective measures to tackling imported deforestation, given that a large part of this deforestation is associated with the conversion of areas for pastures or fodder crops. However, others disagreed with a demonizing view of the consumption of animal-based foods, arguing that the consumption of this type of food is essential if we want to have a balanced diet and that a set of other solutions could be adopted to reduce the environmental impacts of animal husbandry such as promoting responsible soy production and improving third-country import criteria. Some also criticized the frequent use of the term "conversion" in a pejorative way, pointing out that the conversion of ecosystems can be positive if, for example, it allows the restoration of degraded ecosystems. In response to several participants indicating that it is important to have more information available to consumers through food labels, some pointed out the difficulty of gathering all the necessary information on a single label. Also, in response to several participants who mentioned consumer education and awareness as essential steps for a transformation, as well as the implementation of voluntary agreements, some said that such measures were not effective and that it was imperative to create legislation that forces a change in consumer behavior by limiting non-sustainable choices. Sustainable diets and responsible seafood: The pressing need, highlighted by several participants, to diversify seafood consumption by the Portuguese was not unanimous. Someone felt that at least compared to other countries, namely the Nordic Europeans, the Portuguese consume a fairly diversified set of seafood, despite having recognized that there is always room for improvement. Read less

Regarding the discussion topic on sustainable diets and responsible seafood, the following actions were concluded as being necessary: - Promotion of alternative foods (e.g. seaweed). - Conversion to exclusive consumption of larger seafood. - Promotion of seafood consumption diversification - dissemination of less consumed species accompanied by cooking demonstrations. - Messages to raise consumer awareness should result from the collaboration of the different actors in the value chain. - Invest in awareness and dissemination of information on aquaculture production (on the production method, p... Read moreroduction density, and origin). - Apply more detailed traceability and make this information (e.g., origin) available to the consumer at all points of sale or consumption (including restaurants). - Replication of the Proof of Purchase model at first sale point(this allows us to know the origin of the seafood, is easy to read, and incentivises purchases from first sale points and compliance with the rules). - https://www.lotaemcasa.pt/ - Promotion of the use of online platforms that identify seafood sold at first sale points. - Supporting the various actors in the food chain to promote better choices (e.g., better protein sources, alternative proteins, more cost-effective forms of protein, food diversification, and waste reduction) through consulting, technological solutions, etc. - Technology solutions that allow consumers to collect waste from outlets. - Take advantage of seafood discards (recover the old practice of using discarded seafood for flour, e.g.; diversify baskets by including less consumed seafood species). - Demand from distribution: reduce portion sizes, channel consumption to sustainable species, and reduce waste. - Take advantage of existing tools in the value chain (e.g., guides to a better choice, companies with more sustainable offerings). - Industries should make strong commitments (e.g., renewable energy, recycling, decarbonization). - Make fishermen responsible for garbage collection. - Reduce bureaucracy in licensing of sustainable projects (e.g., aquaculture), by defining sustainability benchmarks and replicating the best examples from Europe (rather than investing in innovation only). - Decrease the number of vessels and hours at sea and polluting emissions. - Focus demand on the most productive systems and promote resilience to external factors. Read less

Regarding the discussion topic on sustainable diets and imported deforestation, the following actions were concluded as being necessary: - Negotiate EU agreements with third countries for deforestation-free commitments (apply same rules as for EU). - The new EU forest strategy should reflect companies' responsibilities to ensure due diligence processes. - Complement measures for zero deforestation criteria with the implementation of sustainability standards on the ground. - Implementation of policies to value local products and control products imported from distant regions (analysis by region... Read more to meet essential needs). - CAP should favor extensive production methods and local markets. - Include zero-deforestation criteria in public procurement. - Integrate more robust legislation (with due diligence) and sustainability standards. - Use common metrics regarding environmental impacts and nutritional aspects in food classification for labeling purposes. - Media awareness campaigns on the theme of deforestation (replicating methods used in other successful environmental campaigns on other themes). - Educate producers about impacts. - Increase the price of meat to discourage consumption. - Reduce food waste by attending to size and calibration and using common metrics across the EU to calculate food waste (curb interests in using different metrics). - Make large-scale local production of alternative foods (seaweed, insect meal, protein crops), especially protein alternatives, produced locally - allows for shortening chains. - Invest in innovation for precision animal feed and improved animal digestibility (science-based). - Invest in responsible soy production: improve trade agreements with producing countries to safeguard environmental impacts and human rights. - Invest in agricultural production that integrates restoration actions (positive conversion) of ecosystems. - Integrate local communities and animals in the management of national forests. - Promote sustainable plant production, including for animal feed. - Adoption of voluntary certification systems with strict requirements regarding deforestation. Read less

Regarding the discussion topic on sustainable diets and national biodiversity, the following actions were concluded as being necessary: - Raise consumer awareness about buying in local markets and/or participating in producer-consumer or consumer-only cooperatives, to be able to gain access to sustainable food more cheaply (favoring value chains without intermediaries). - Make the population aware of the different levels of self-sufficiency according to the type of food. - Facilitate the process of selling native seeds by ending sales limitations, simplifying procurement requirements, and mult... Read moreiplying germplasm banks throughout the country. - Monitoring of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by different actors, demanding that financial incentives be better adapted to the national context, favoring marginal areas (growing evidence of greater environmental relevance), effectively based on results, and with greater supervision to encourage farmers to adopt more positive practices for biodiversity, rewarding them accordingly. - CAP incentives should take negative externalities more into account (currently only very timidly considered in cross-compliance rules) in order to allow a reduction in subsidies for non sustainably produced food, bringing prices more into balance with those that are sustainable, and therefore making them more affordable. - Extend traceability to all foods to know their origin and differentiate them according to production method. - Raise awareness of the food chain (from producer to consumer) about how it works to empower action on how income is distributed along the chain, especially at the distribution level. - Decentralize distribution - replicate the practice of imposing a limit on the number of food retail stores in a municipality, imposing minimum sustainable food purchase quotas for each retailer. - Deconstruct the price/nutrient ratio of food - more sustainably produced food is generally more nutritious. The higher price of these foods is offset by their higher nutritional content. - Reformulation of benchmarks for sustainable production methods (e.g. organic farming is no guarantee of greater biodiversity), involving all relevant stakeholders in this reformulation (prevents us from continually developing proxy approaches that do not safeguard biodiversity). - Development of new regulations that promote good environmental practices or penalize bad ones(e.g., ban on incorrect burning). - Empower rural areas more in logistical support for food processing - insufficient, compared to urban areas. Read less