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Culture and food traditions: by supporting healthy, diversified and culturally appropriate diets, agroecology contributes to food security and nutrition while maintaining the health of ecosystems

Agriculture and food are core components of human heritage. Hence, culture and food traditions play a central role in society and in shaping human behaviour. However, in many instances, our current food systems have created a disconnection between food habits and culture. This disconnection has contributed to a situation where hunger and obesity exist side by side, in a world that produces enough food to feed its entire population.

Almost 800 million people worldwide are chronically hungry and 2 billion suffer micronutrient deficiencies. Meanwhile, there has been a rampant rise in obesity and diet-related diseases; 1.9 billion people are overweight or obese and non-communicable diseases (cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes) are the number one cause of global mortality. To address the imbalances in our food systems and move towards a zero hunger world, increasing production alone is not sufficient.

Agroecology plays an important role in re-balancing tradition and modern food habits, bringing them together in a harmonious way that promotes healthy food production and consumption, supporting the right to adequate food. In this way, agroecology seeks to cultivate a healthy relationship between people and food.

Cultural identity and sense of place are often closely tied to landscapes and food systems. As people and ecosystems have evolved together, cultural practices and indigenous and traditional knowledge offer a wealth of experience that can inspire agroecological solutions. For example, India is home to an estimated 50,000 indigenous varieties of rice – bred over centuries for their specific taste, nutrition and pest-resistance properties, and their adaptability to a range of conditions. Culinary traditions are built around these different varieties, making use of their different properties. Taking this accumulated body of traditional knowledge as a guide, agroecology can help realise the potential of territories to sustain their peoples.

Database

The National Network of Native and Creole Seeds is made up of 210 family farms and involves more than 300 producers from all over the country. It is organized into 27 local groups, each with a person who acts as a focal point. The main objective is the rescue and revaluation...
الكتاب
This family agroecological initiative is led and inspired by the feminist farmer Fátima Maria dos Santos, coordinator of the Agroecological and Solidarity Markets Network of the State of Ceará. It supports egalitarian gender relations and promotes solidarity within socially integrated agricultural systems. The initiative is situated in the Jenipapo community, in...
Brazil
الابتكار
2021
This policy brief discusses how feebate policies could upscale organic agriculture and food self-sufficiency in Bhutan, specifically looking at rice production. The simulations show that a feebate (fee and rebate) policy coupled with promotion and training in agroecological farming methods could incentivize widespread adoption of agroecology, achieving both 100 percent organic production...
موجز في السياسات
2022
As part of a complex view of the production, distribution, consumption, and public policies around the agrifood system, in this video,  Beatriz Fadón, a member of the Association Landscape, Ecology, and Gender (Asociación Paisaje, Género y Ecología), proposes ways to transform the whole food system from the field to the...
فيديو
2019
Este número recoge una variedad diversa de autores/as y entidades que trabajan en ganadería extensiva, dando espacio a artículos que analizan tanto los obstáculos como las oportunidades del sector. Entre ellos, destacan: el pastoreo racional y sus servicios ecosistémicos (de la Universidad de Extremadura), la diferenciación de los productos de...
Spain
الكتاب
2020