#CFS42-Healthy diets from climate-smart food systems: Debating a climate-smart approach for a food-secure future
The 42nd CFS event is currently being
held at FAO. On Tuesday 13th
October, IFAD and CGIAR hosted a side event: Healthy
diets from climate-smart food systems: Debating a climate-smart approach for a
food-secure future.
Amongst the speakers was Ska Mirriam Moteane, an award
winning Lesothan chef, Hervé Saint-Macary, the deputy director of Persyst
(Performance of Production and Transformation Systems ) at CIRAD.
Other speakers included IFAD's Environment and Climate Division's agronomist
Bertrand Reysset and University of Harvard Professor of Nutrition, Walter Willet.
Opening the event was CGIAR Chief Executive Frank
Rijsberman, who underlined the importance of bringing together the themes of
agricultural production, climate change, nutrition and food security.
''How do we produce healthy food, and importantly, how do we
produce healthy food from sustainable food systems?,'' said Rijsberman. “Unhealthy
food is a key driver in pushing our planetary boundaries, and we are now
risking an unstable planet.''
The majority of agriculture investments are directed at
producing staples such as cereals, and not towards vegetables and other means
of diversifying a healthy diet.
'The world is overinvested in cereals and underinvested in
nutritious crops,'' added Frank Rijsberman.
Modern agriculture can bring with it nutritional risks
despite increasing real income. Under a gender perspective, commercial
agriculture often undermines the role of
women in traditional agriculture.
”The potential to improveme diets worldwide is huge but the
evidence so far suggests that as a planet we are heading down the wrong path,”
said Harvard’s Walter Willet.
The importance of knowledge for healthy diets was also
highlighted. Preparing healthy food requires extra knowledge. As we now have to
produce more food with less natural resources we must use a wider diversity of
crops and a more intelligent approach. Disseminating this knowledge is key.
''We are seeing an increase in junk and unhealthy food being
introduced even in Lesotho…this has to stop,” said Chef Ska Motoeane. ” Eating
nutritious meals is seen as scary, like school work, a chore, but nutritious
meals can still be appetising and delicious, and people need to know this!''
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| ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano |
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| ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano |
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| ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano |
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| ©FAO/Giulio Napolitano |