Thank you for the invitation to participate in the discussion. Slow Food would like to see the following issues addressed in the report:
· The well-documented negative health consequences of the transition away from nutritious traditional diets to a western diet, and the reciprocal effects on food systems. In the Slow Food network there are hundreds of producers of traditional foods who no longer have a market for their products due to consumer preference for western industrial foods.
· The relationship between biodiversity in food systems and nutritional status.
· The relationship between production methods (both for animal and plant foods) and nutrient profiles. For example, in a study done to evaluate the nutrient content of Slow Food Presidia products (artisanal/traditional foods), Presidia products were found to have higher nutrient contents compared to reference values (see http://bit.ly/1Piv2wl).
· The health impacts of food systems with high chemical inputs versus agroecological systems.
· Initiatives that aim to reduce the distance between farm and fork. For example, our 10,000 Gardens in Africa project (http://bit.ly/1PLJlLl) is creating food gardens in schools, communities and family homes across the continent. The gardens are run, and produce is consumed, by the communities themselves. Likewise, the Slow Food Earth Markets network (http://bit.ly/1QTfBvb) and CSA-type projects give consumers direct access to locally produced food. Actions such as these have the potential to increase dietary diversity through the cultivation of varied traditional crops, and nutrition security by reducing reliance on vulnerable large-scale productions.
· The role of governments in favoring the continued production of foods that form part of traditional diets. Subsidies and policies should support diverse small-scale local productions whose presence allows communities to obtain nutrients from a wide range of sources.
Simone Gie