Glossary LUPPA

CIRCULAR ECONOMY
A production and consumption model that aims to reduce waste to a minimum by treating the waste from one product as raw material for another. It avoids the use of nonrenewable resources and relies on recycling, repair, reuse, refurbishing, sharing, and renting to extend the useful life of materials and products.

CLIMATE JUSTICE
A concept that links human rights, equity, and sustainability, seeking to ensure a fair distribution of the impacts, risks, and benefits related to climate change, taking into account social inequalities and the differentiated responsibilities of groups and territories.

CLIMATE RESILIENCE
The ability of cities, communities, and ecosystems to anticipate, absorb, and recover from extreme weather events. It involves adapting efficiently to the impacts and risks associated with extreme weather events and climate change.

COMMUNITY GARDEN PROGRAMS
Programs that transform and use vacant or underused public land to grow food agroecologically, mostly for families in situations of social and nutritional vulnerability. Community gardens are seen as a way to address certain public health problems in some areas, to fight hunger, and to generate income from the sale of surplus produce. They are usually maintained by community volunteers and monitored by a team of specialized technicians.

COMMUNITY KITCHEN
Facilities that operate like popular restaurants (Restaurantes Populares) but with simpler, smaller-scale structures. They are more common in municipal programs than in state programs.

COMPOSTING
The processing, through reuse and recycling, of organic matter discarded as organic waste, turning it into natural fertilizer for growing plants as a substitute for chemical inputs. It plays an important role in soil regeneration.

CONVENTIONAL STREET MARKETS
Open-air street markets with no specification as to the production method or the origin of the food.

CREOLE SEED
A seed resulting from traditional breeding carried out by small farmers through selection and storage, turning it into genetic heritage and giving it traits adapted to the conditions of each region, greater resilience, and better productivity, without the use of inputs that harm the environment or human and animal health.

CREOLE SEED BANK
A social technology that promotes the sustainability of family farming by strengthening the exchange of creole seed varieties, and of information on how to grow and use them, among farming families.

DIETARY DIVERSITY
An indicator of a healthy diet, which involves the routine consumption of different food groups and nutrients essential to health, such as fruits, greens, whole grains, vegetables, and dairy products.

DIETARY GUIDELINES FOR THE BRAZILIAN POPULATION
Official food and nutrition guidelines developed by Brazil’s Ministry of Health in 2014, based on the right to health and the right to adequate and healthy food, to guide and facilitate healthier food choices by the Brazilian population, in language that everyone can understand and that takes local cultures into account.

EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS
Intense climate and/or weather events that deviate sharply from a region’s historical patterns and normal averages and directly affect human populations, causing material, human, and animal losses, environmental damage, and health risks. They are one of the most visible effects of climate change, intensified by global warming.

FAMILY FARMER REGISTRY – CAF
An official document of Brazil’s federal government used to identify and qualify Family Agricultural Production Units (UFPA), Family Rural Enterprises (EFR), and associations of family organizations. It is an instrument of the National Family Farming Policy, established by Decree No. 9,064 of 2017, and a basic requirement for accessing a range of public policies that support family farming and income generation.

FAMILY FARMING
A form of production in which the work on the land and its management are carried out mainly by the family itself. Rural properties must not exceed four fiscal modules, and the economic activities linked to the establishment or enterprise must be the family’s main source of income. Family farming accounts for the largest share of food production and rural properties in Brazil and for most of the jobs generated in rural areas. It is regulated by Law No. 11,326 of 2006.

FAMILY FARMING DISTRIBUTION CENTER
Part of the network of food and nutrition security facilities, these centers support the distribution of food, especially food from family farming or purchased through the Food Acquisition Program (PAA) or the National School Feeding Program (PNAE). They help organize local marketing, supply, and food consumption circuits.

FOOD ACQUISITION PROGRAM – PAA
A federal initiative created in 2003 and funded by the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family, and the Fight Against Hunger, which buys food from small family farmers and donates it to people in situations of socioeconomic vulnerability, to organizations in the public and philanthropic social assistance, education, health, and justice networks, and to food and nutrition security facilities.

FOOD AND NUTRITION EDUCATION – EAN
A field of knowledge and of continuous, ongoing practice that aims to promote the autonomous and voluntary adoption of healthy eating habits. Transdisciplinary, intersectoral, and multiprofessional, it uses educational approaches and resources that foster dialogue, valuing local culture, sustainability, and access to adequate food, and taking into account the different stages of life and of food systems. It is also one of the guidelines and structural pillars of the National School Feeding Program (PNAE).

FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY – SAN
The guarantee of regular and permanent access to quality food in sufficient quantity, without compromising access to other essential needs, based on health-promoting eating practices that respect cultural diversity and are environmentally, culturally, economically, and socially sustainable.

FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY COUNCIL – CONSEA
Councils are bodies through which governments and civil society discuss public policies, especially social policies. Food and nutrition security councils, created from 2002 onward within the administrative structures of states, municipalities, and the federal government to guide and monitor food policies, usually have two-thirds of their members from civil society and one-third from government. The National Council, linked to the Office of the President, was created in 2003, abolished in 2019, and re-established in 2023.

FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY PLAN
Multi-year strategic planning by the federal government or by a state or municipality, with targets, indicators, deadlines, programs, responsible bodies, and a budget base, to build a food environment that promotes nutrition and health through sustainable and just food systems.

FOOD DESERTS
Areas where access to and availability of fresh, healthy, quality food, such as fruits, greens, grains, and vegetables, is scarce or nonexistent. They are most common in low-income and peripheral communities.

FOOD GOVERNANCE
A mechanism for strengthening decision-making capacities that can make the collective actions defining how food is produced, distributed, and consumed effective, transparent, and inclusive. Food systems governance is essential for building effective and sustainable public policies, ensuring that different actors – civil society, governments, and the private sector – take part democratically and transparently.

FOOD INSECURITY – SEVERE, MODERATE, MILD
The condition of those who are unable to eat regularly with quality food that meets their nutritional needs. It is divided into three levels according to the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale. MILD: concern about future access to food and compromised diet quality. MODERATE: access to a restricted and insufficient quantity of food. SEVERE: serious deprivation in food consumption, including hunger.

FOOD JUSTICE
A principle that seeks to guarantee the Human Right to Adequate Food (DHAA) by promoting equity in access to healthy, sustainable, fair, and culturally appropriate food, as well as the fair distribution of the resources, opportunities, and benefits of food systems, without discrimination of any kind.

FOOD PROCESSING CENTER
A facility where food is processed in order to preserve its nutritional value and shelf life, add value, and bring stability to production.

FOOD SOVEREIGNTY
The right of peoples to define their own policies and strategies for the sustainable and culturally appropriate production, distribution, and consumption of food, valuing peasant, fishing, and Indigenous ways of production and family farming.

FOOD SWAMPS
Areas with a high concentration of businesses that mainly sell unhealthy food, such as ultra-processed and similar products, and a low supply of fresh, healthy food. These areas are dominated by businesses such as fast-food chains, convenience stores, and markets that mostly sell nutrient-poor items.

FOOD SYSTEMS
The set of activities, actors, and processes involved in the production, processing, transportation, distribution, storage, marketing, purchase, preparation, consumption, and disposal of food, including food loss and waste. They also encompass the political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors that shape these activities, as well as the outcomes and impacts generated by food systems.

FOOD SYSTEMS TRANSFORMATION
An intentional process of structural change in food systems to make them healthier, more sustainable, equitable, resilient, inclusive, and just. It covers practices, policies, institutions, and power relations across the entire system.

GREENHOUSE GASES – GHGs
Gases naturally present in the atmosphere that absorb and retain heat, warming the planet and causing the phenomenon known as the greenhouse effect. An excess of these gases, caused by human activities, intensifies global warming. The main GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O), and industrial gases (HFCs, PFCs, SF₆). The main activities responsible for these emissions are the burning of coal, oil, and gas in industry and vehicles; deforestation and forest fires; farming, livestock, and soil management; and the decomposition of waste in landfills.

HUMAN RIGHT TO ADEQUATE FOOD – DHAA
A fundamental right, guaranteed by Article 6 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution, which ensures that all people have regular and permanent physical and economic access to food in sufficient quantity and quality, respecting food culture and human dignity.

INCENTIVES FOR AGROECOLOGICAL TRANSITION
Incentives to change the foundations of production by adopting practices aimed at conserving natural resources and the well-being of the population, increasing the sustainability of farming systems. The agroecological transition goes through several stages. According to the “Marco Referencial em Agroecologia” (Agroecology Reference Framework, a document published by Embrapa), there are three steps of the transition that take place on the farm: reducing and rationalizing the use of agrochemicals and synthetic fertilizers; replacing chemical inputs with biological ones and managing biodiversity; and redesigning production systems.

INCOME TRANSFER PROGRAMS
Typical programs for fighting extreme poverty, usually named “bolsa…” (allowance). They pay a benefit to families living in poverty or extreme poverty, with or without conditions attached to receiving it, for a set period or in specific circumstances.

INTERNATIONAL PACTS
International pacts, even when not binding and mandatory like treaties, demonstrate political commitment to a cause, as in the case of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact.

INTERSECRETARIAL CHAMBER FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY – CAISAN
An intersectoral and interdisciplinary body of the direct administration of the federal, state, or municipal government that brings together representatives of all government departments (or ministries) whose work relates to food and the food system. Based on the recommendations of the Food Security Conference and the guidelines provided by the Food and Nutrition Security Council, it is the body that draws up the Food and Nutrition Security Plan.

LAW TO PROMOTE URBAN AGRICULTURE
There is no law establishing general rules, but there are several programs that encourage and support urban agriculture in Brazil. These programs follow the National Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Program, established by Ordinance No. 467 of February 7, 2018, which aims to stimulate agroecological food production in cities, encourage healthy eating habits, and set up food production for educational purposes in schools, especially in socially vulnerable areas. It is thus aligned with the National Food and Nutrition Security Policy, helping to expand access to and consumption of healthy food among vulnerable families.

LOW-CARBON AGRICULTURE
A system based on the integrated practice of crops, livestock, and forest cover occupying the same space, with the aim of reducing and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from the integrated crop-livestock-forest production system.

MAPPING OF FAMILY PRODUCERS
A survey and assessment of the family food production units located in the municipality.

MITIGATION (OF CLIMATE CHANGE)
The set of initiatives and actions that reduce, limit, or minimize the damage or negative effects on the environment resulting from human activity on ecosystems and the planet.

MOBILE MARKETS
The use of vehicles such as buses, trucks, or boats to sell fresh produce in strategic areas of the city.

MULTI-YEAR PLAN – PPA
The main medium-term planning law of Brazil’s public administration, defining the government’s objectives, guidelines, targets, and priorities for a four-year period. Provided for in Article 165 of the Federal Constitution, it guides the allocation of resources to public works and services and works as a strategic map for public investment and the creation of services in areas such as health, education, and infrastructure. It can be federal, state, or municipal.

MUNICIPAL CONFERENCE ON FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY
A typical form of public consultation for building social public policies, the Food and Nutrition Security Conference is a mechanism for identifying the needs of society and of the territory, which will form the basis of the guidelines to be followed by CAISAN in drawing up the Municipal Food and Nutrition Security Plan.

MUNICIPAL FOOD BANK
A typical facility for fighting food insecurity that collects public or private food donations and distributes them to families in situations of vulnerability and/or to social assistance facilities. It can operate under the Food Acquisition Program (PAA) model, through which the government buys from family farmers the food that will be donated, and/or receive donations from the food retail and food industry sectors.

MUNICIPAL FOOD EVENTS
Events promoted, at least in part, by the local government to showcase locally produced food or typical dishes of the local food culture.

NATIONAL FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY SYSTEM – SISAN
A federal system established in 2006 by the Organic Law on Food and Nutrition Security (Law No. 11,346 of September 15, 2006) for the participatory, non-mandatory, intersectoral management of public policies, aimed at coordinating the three levels of government in implementing Food and Nutrition Security Policies. Its objectives are to formulate and implement food and nutrition security policies and plans; to encourage joint efforts between government and civil society to promote the right to food; and to track, monitor, and evaluate food and nutrition security in the country.

NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR STRENGTHENING FAMILY FARMING – PRONAF
A federal program that aims to promote sustainable rural development through actions to increase productive capacity and generate jobs and income, offering rural credit at reduced interest rates to small farmers. Pronaf is carried out by public and private banks and rural credit cooperatives. It has a number of subprograms, such as Pronaf Custeio (operating costs), Agroindústria (agro-industry), Mulher (women), Agroecologia (agroecology), and Jovem (youth), among others.

NATIONAL SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAM – PNAE
A public policy that provides free meals and nutrition activities to students in early childhood, elementary, high school, and youth and adult education in public schools and in partner philanthropic and community schools. It prioritizes fresh and minimally processed foods, with menus planned by nutrition professionals and meals that meet students’ nutritional needs. It is managed by the National Fund for Education Development (FNDE) and must allocate at least 30% of its funds to buying food directly from local family farmers.

ORGANIC AGRICULTURE
A sustainable production system in which food is grown without synthetic pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It uses techniques such as composting, crop rotation, and biological pest control. It requires audits and official seals to certify that products meet organic production standards.

ORGANIC LAW ON FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY – LOSAN
The legal framework setting out the guidelines and structure of the system that will design and implement food and nutrition security policies in a given municipality or state or at the federal level. It usually establishes the existence and responsibilities of bodies such as the Food and Nutrition Security Conference, Council, and Chamber, as well as the requirement to draw up a multi-year Food and Nutrition Security Plan, and all the guidelines, principles, and purposes of these bodies’ work.

PARLIAMENTARY FRONT FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY
A group of legislators dedicated to working on a given issue. Parliamentary fronts are organized at the federal, state, and municipal levels.

POPULAR RESTAURANT (RESTAURANTE POPULAR)
A typical facility of policies to fight food insecurity, funded by state or municipal governments, to give people in situations of vulnerability access to meals (usually lunch) at a symbolic price or even free of charge, depending on the program in place.

PRODUCTIVE BACKYARDS
Growing areas usually located around homes, they are a form of urban agriculture and may combine growing edible species with raising small animals. They can be individual or collective, vary in size, and use agroecological and sustainable production techniques.

PUBLIC CALL FOR DIRECT PURCHASES FROM FAMILY FARMING
A simplified form of public procurement through which governments buy products from family farmers, without competition among qualified applicants but rather in collaboration. Public call notices specify the quantity, quality, and price to be paid by the government, and all qualified applicants who wish to supply part of the volume to be purchased must express their interest and submit the documents required in the notice.

PUBLIC FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY FACILITIES – EqSAN
Physical structures, fixed or mobile, designed to promote the production, access, supply, distribution, marketing, and consumption of adequate and healthy food or meals, as well as professional training for income generation within the National Food and Nutrition Security System (SISAN). Their purpose is to promote access to healthy food and guarantee the Human Right to Adequate Food (DHAA).

PUBLIC FOOD POLICY
Any public policy that directly or indirectly affects, interferes with, or promotes the right to food, whether in food production (agricultural, environmental, and land policies), distribution (food supply, foreign trade, and food marketing policies), or consumption (food security, health, school feeding, income generation and transfer, and social assistance and development policies), including related tax policies.

REFERENCE CENTER FOR FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY – CRESAN
Multifunctional public facilities that put the Food and Nutrition Security System (SISAN) into practice in the territories. They carry out intersectoral actions for integrated services to the population, offering in a single place the services and actions provided for in food and nutrition security plans.

REFERENCE FRAMEWORK ON FOOD SYSTEMS AND CLIMATE FOR PUBLIC POLICIES
A document developed by the National Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security of the Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family, and the Fight Against Hunger (MDS), in partnership with the Food and Nutrition Security Policy Observatory of the University of Brasília and with support from Instituto Clima e Sociedade, which aims to guide the integration of food and nutrition security, the fight against hunger, climate justice, and sustainable development.

RURAL ZONE IN THE MASTER PLAN
The percentage of the municipality’s area classified as “rural” or dedicated to farming in the municipal Master Plan.

SCHOOL GARDEN PROGRAMS
The Educational Gardens Project, also called School Gardens, is an initiative designed by the Ministry of Citizenship and developed in partnership with EMBRAPA (the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), with support from FNDE (the National Fund for Education Development), a leading institution in Brazilian education. The project aims to train and encourage interaction among the different members of the school community to set up gardens in schools in a participatory way, creating a starting point for food and nutrition education and for the adoption of new, healthy, and sustainable eating habits by adding garden produce to school menus.

SHORT FOOD SUPPLY CHAINS
Sales networks with no middlemen or with only one intermediary, reducing the physical and social distance between producers and consumers. These chains encourage sustainability and transparency, valuing family farming and ensuring fresh food at fair prices.

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE REFERENCE CENTER – CRAS
A government-run public unit of the Unified Social Assistance System (SUAS) responsible for offering and organizing basic social protection services in areas of social vulnerability and risk. It works to prevent social risks, strengthen family and community ties, and expand access to rights, benefits, programs, and public services, including the Single Registry (Cadastro Único) and social assistance guidance.

SOCIOBIODIVERSITY
The relationship between biological diversity (biodiversity) and sociocultural diversity, which values traditional knowledge and practices in the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, promoting income generation, well-being, and recognition of the ways of life of traditional peoples and communities and of family farmers.

SOLIDARITY KITCHEN
Food and nutrition security facilities whose purpose is to prepare and offer free, quality meals to the population, preferably to people in situations of vulnerability and social risk, including people experiencing homelessness and food and nutrition insecurity. They are self-managed, run on a voluntary basis by the community, and funded by donations from partners or individuals. They may carry out other activities, such as training workshops and food and nutrition education (EAN) actions, among others, and are usually located in vulnerable areas that are strategic for providing food.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS – SDGs
A global action plan adopted by the United Nations in 2015 that sets out 17 goals and 169 targets across four dimensions: social, environmental, economic, and institutional. Among other aims, it seeks to end poverty, protect the environment and the climate, and ensure peace and prosperity for all people by 2030.

SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
A social oversight council, with equal representation of civil society and government, present at all three levels of government, to coordinate, organize, and propose sustainable rural development policy, both to promote land reform and to strengthen family farming and income generation in the rural sector. The existence of the municipal councils (CMDRs) is governed by Federal Decree No. 3,508/2000, which regulates Federal Law No. 9,649/98. States and municipalities that wish to join the National Sustainable Rural Development Plan must set up their own Sustainable Rural Development Councils.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND RURAL EXTENSION – ATER
Services provided to rural producers and family farmers to disseminate and exchange knowledge and new technologies, encourage agricultural research and experimentation, and provide training in the planning and management of rural activities.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND RURAL EXTENSION COMPANY – EMATER
A public institution linked to the state Departments of Agriculture whose goal is to promote sustainable rural development by providing technical and practical guidance, courses, training, technological innovation, and direct support to rural workers, with a focus on strengthening family farming.

TRADITIONAL COMMUNITIES
Communities that share social, cultural, and livelihood conditions distinct from other segments of the national population, and that also share the same territory and the tangible and intangible assets that make up their identity and sense of existence.

ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS
Foods produced industrially using little or no whole food and containing a range of chemical additives, such as stabilizers, colorings, emulsifiers, and flavorings, to change their taste, color, texture, and shelf life. They are often high in salt, sugar, and fat, and their consumption has been linked to the development of obesity and noncommunicable chronic diseases.

UN HUNGER MAP
Countries where more than 5% of the population faces hunger or, technically, a prevalence of undernourishment (people who cannot obtain the minimum calories needed over a prolonged period) are placed on the hunger map monitored by the UN World Food Programme to receive international aid.

URBAN AND PERI-URBAN AGRICULTURE
The growing of plants and raising of small animals within the city (urban) on plots and in other spaces such as backyards, rooftops, urban gardens, and balconies, or in the transition zone between urban and rural areas (peri-urban).

URBAN GARDENS
Spaces within cities dedicated to growing food such as fruits, greens, vegetables, and herbs. They can be community, home, or commercial gardens and are an important food and nutrition security resource.

WHOLESALE FOOD MARKETS / SUPPLY CENTERS
Wholesale food hubs, usually for fresh produce, that serve as distribution centers supplying retail businesses and street markets.