The city of São Paulo joined the virtual event "Independents Dialogues on Food Systems of Latin-American Cities", on Tuesday (18). This meeting was organized by ICEL - Local Governments for Sustainability, in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Through the articulation of the Municipal Department of International Affairs (SMRI), the municipality was represented by the Deputy Secretary of Economic Development, Labor and Tourism, Armando Junior. The webinar counted, yet, with representatives of Belo Horizonte City Hall (Minas Gerais), and the coordination of the thematic rooms by the cities of Curitiba (Paraná), Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro), São Paulo (São Paulo), and Lima (Peru).

During the event, the city participants could share experiences on the subject of food between the municipalities, to highlight the importance of local governments on global food systems. Also exalted the need of accessing public policies and financial recourses, to promote food safety to the population.

In the opening, were presented the institutional speeches by the Latin-America Regional Vice Director of C40 Network, Ilan Cuperstein; the Head of International Affairs of the city of Belo Horizonte, Hugo Salomão; the FAO Food Systems Policy Officer, João Intini; and the ICLEI Executive Secretary of South-America, Rodrigo Perpétuo.

The city of São Paulo mediated the debate on the thematic room on production and conscious consumption. The discussion had as guests Mike Oliveira, of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation; Virginia Antonioli, of WWF Brazil; Edson Leite, of Gastronomia Periférica; and Luciana Machado, of SESC - Programa Mesa Brasil. The main topics were the production and responsible consumption, besides the formulation of public policies to guarantee food and nutritional safety to the vulnerable population.

To elaborate actions to influence global dialogues on food, the event was held in the context of the process of preparatory debates of the Conference of Food Systems of United Nations, scheduled for September of 2021. To check more information, click here.