I believe that an important task of the consultation is to come to grips with a clear definition on what we are talking about when we refer to “a food system.” Recently the FAO provided this far-reaching definition which is a good benchmark:
“A food system includes all processes and infrastructure involved in feeding a population: growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, transporting, marketing, consumption, and disposal of food and food-related items. It also includes the inputs needed and outputs generated at each of these steps. A food system operates within and is influenced by social, political, economic and environmental contexts. It also requires human resources that provide labor, research and education.”
There are many investigations in the literature on each of these aspects as applied to food, diets, health and food and nutrition security. The HLPE has a lot of work cut out for them to address the state of the art for each of these components within any one food system, whether it is in a developed or developing country, not to mention creating an overarching framework on the various types of food systems.
Thank you for making the consultation available.
Sincerely,
Harriet V. Kuhnlein, PhD, LLD (hon.), FIUNS, FASN
Professor Emerita of Human Nutrition, McGill University, Montreal
Adjunct Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Hawai’i, Manoa
Founding Director, Centre for Indigenous Peoples’ Nutrition and Environment (CINE)
http://www.mcgill.ca/cine/about
http://www.mcgill.ca/nutrition/staff/professors/kuhnleinwww.indigenousnutrition.org
Harriet V. Kuhnlei