On behalf of CIHEAM-Bari I would like to thank HLPE for this timely and interesting initiative.
I do believe that the topics addressed in the Issues note are relevant for better understanding the issues at play when talking about nutrition and food systems and especially the multifaceted and multidimensional relations and linkages that exist between nutrition, diets, food systems and sustainable food and nutrition security.
Nevertheless, I think that the Mediterranean diet - that is considered by many scholars as an example of sustainable diets - should be considered as a case study in the report. Better understanding what is happening in the Mediterranean area will provide insights for promoting more effectively sustainable diets in other agro-ecological zones and geographical contexts.
Moreover, I would like to suggest focusing also on tools (e.g. metrics, indicators, indices) for better assessing the nutrition-health, environmental, economic and socio-cultural sustainability of diets. The work carried out by CIHEAM-Bari and FAO – in collaboration with many other Italian, Mediterranean and international organisations – on the sustainability of the Mediterranean diets (http://www.iamb.it/share/img_new_medit_articoli/949_28dernini.pdf) can serve as an example.
Another aspect that should be better analysed in the report, according to me, is also the relation between traditional/typical diets and traditional diets in different contexts as well the impact of the evolution of that relation on local agro-biodiversity.
Once again I would like to thank for this outstanding initiative and look forward to contributing to the report.
Kind regards
Roberto Capone