Photo: Luci Sallum/PMC Building an overview of food policies at the municipal level is urgent in the face of rising hunger, yet it gains new possibilities with the resumption of the Federal Government’s Food and Nutrition Security actions together with the National Consea (National Council for Food and Nutrition Security). Contagem has been active on this agenda. The city, which has 673,849 inhabitants, a geographic area of 194.746 km2 and is located in the tropical Center-South of the country, is part of the Belo Horizonte metropolitan region, in Minas Gerais, and has been a member of the LUPPA Community since our 1st edition. Last Wednesday, March 29, the city held the 5th Conference on Food and Nutrition Security and Agroecology under the theme “Nourishing Rights and Citizenship, Real Food for All People”, bringing together more than 300 people from various cities in Minas Gerais at the opening seminar. LUPPA was also present at the event. The meeting took place at the Tenda do Encontro – the City Hall headquarters – with the participation of council members, officials, public servants, users of public policies and the general public. One of the Conference’s fundamental objectives was to gather input and promote dialogue and debate for the participatory drafting of the municipality’s III Plano Municipal Integrado de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional e Agroecologia (3rd Integrated Municipal Plan for Food and Nutrition Security and Agroecology). The opening panel included: Undersecretary Cida Miranda; the Secretary of Social Development, Labor and Food Security, Daniela Tiffany; the President of COMSAN, Sávio Moraes; and Mayor Marília Campos. The main panel, “Food at the center of the agenda: Real food as a fundamental right of all people”, was moderated by Élido Bonomo and featured Isis Leite Ferreira, Coordinator at the Extraordinary Secretariat for Combating Poverty and Hunger of the Ministry of Social Development and Fight against Hunger, who explained the Ministry’s programs and actions; Professor Heloísa Soares de Moura, who addressed the challenges of Food Security in the urban and metropolitan context: “We always have to inform ourselves by asking: what is produced? For whom is it produced? Where is it produced? How is it produced? Why is it produced? On this basis, we can build a picture that changes many people’s belief that the metropolitan region has no agriculture. It does, and a lot of it. However, it is often invisible. And this is a moment to give it visibility and the conditions to continue”; and Juliana Tângari, director of Instituto Comida do Amanhã and general coordinator of LUPPA, who stressed the importance of listening to the population in order to deliver and guarantee the right to adequate food through local government actions. “It is also essential that the municipal government build public policies and view food security not only as fighting hunger, but also in terms of the impact agriculture has on the climate, and the impact of climate on food, among other aspects.” During the conference, various topics were discussed, among which the importance of the municipal government’s presence in promoting agroecology and the population’s food and nutrition security stood out, as well as openness to civil society expressing its specificities and needs.

ORIGINS

Since 2005, the municipality of Contagem has been building its Municipal Food and Nutrition Security and Agroecology Policy, through the creation of the Municipal Council for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security – COMSAN, and the implementation of programs, actions and services that seek to guarantee the population’s right to quality food. This Policy is enshrined in municipal legislation: Law No. 3,944 of July 25, 2005, which creates COMSAN and FUMSAN; Law No. 4,276 of July 15, 2009, which creates Contagem’s Municipal System for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security – SISANS; and Decree No. 1,391/2020, which reestablishes the Intersectoral Committee for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security. While holding the Conference, the city is also working to reorganize the Intersectoral Chamber for Food and Nutrition Security and Agroecology. The municipal policy is embodied in FNS programs and actions, in the existence of a specific administrative structure made up of the Superintendency of Food and Nutrition Security and Agroecology, with its Directorates and Management Offices, and in budget provision through the Municipal Fund for Food and Nutrition Security – FUMSAN. From its origins, Contagem’s Municipal Policy has been built with strong popular participation, since the first legislation related to the topic was the creation of the Council in 2003, and with its reformulation in 2005 it gained the ingredient of genuine civil society participation, along with a track record of municipal conferences. – LUPPA is a project of Instituto Comida do Amanhã @comidadoamanha, co-organized with @iclei_sams, with full support from @iibirapitanga and ICS – Instituto Clima e Sociedade, special support from @UEnoBrasil, @embrapa and @wwfbrasil, and institutional support from FAO Brazil – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, @insta.act, @alimentacaoconscientebr, and @hsiglobal. source: Contagem portal