NUTRITION

Healthy Food. In late April, the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) approved its Vision and Strategy on Nutrition. It sets out the strategy that the organization will implement until 2026 to improve the nutrition of the global population. Thus, FAO proposes actions such as promoting the facilitation of access to nutritious food, the reduction of food wastage or the evaluation of the effects of COVID-19 on healthy diets. It is possible that these measures will be especially promoted in Latin America, where during the last few days the entity held a regional meeting organized together with the Latin American Federation of Supply Markets (FLAMA, in Spanish), to promote the use of food guides in the countries of the region. FAO will seek to promote the lines of action proposed in the coming years, for which it will seek concrete support from national governments in the region.

In its strategy, the international organization proposed to support countries in stimulating healthy diets in their populations and promoting the production and supply of affordable and nutritious foods. In this way, it proposes to compile and communicate policy options that demonstrate effective results in terms of making nutritious diets available to people. It also recognizes the reduction of food waste and the increase in the diversity of food products available to the population as a point to work on. On the other hand, it will encourage collaboration with private sector actors to establish innovative ways of promoting better nutrition, while providing technical assistance to help policymakers formulate legal frameworks that promote healthy diets.

A concrete application of these lines of action was seen in the regional event promoted by FAO together with FLAMA to promote healthy school diets and the use of food guides. At that event, FAO pointed out that the Food Based Dietary Guidelines (GABAS, in Spanish), which are applied in Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador and Peru, are a fundamental instrument for encouraging the consumption of vegetables and fruits in schools. The international organization emphasizes that the recommendations included in these guidelines promote food education by reducing the demand for highly processed food with excess sugar and fat.

Next Steps

FAO presented its strategy to promote better nutrition at a global level with lines of action towards 2025. It stated that it will seek to collaborate with countries and the private sector in the development of public policies to promote healthy diets and reduce food waste. It will also collect information for the review of current nutritional standards to corroborate their effectiveness in each country. FAO has already begun working to implement these measures, although their concrete application in each country will depend on the agreements that the international organization can reach with national governments.