On Wednesday (the 13th), the Laboratório Urbano de Políticas Públicas Alimentares (LUPPA – Urban Laboratory of Public Food Policies) held the second preparatory workshop of its 5th edition. The meeting brought together representatives of the participating cities, civil society organizations and the project’s technical team to discuss the challenges and potential of the Sistema Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SISAN – National Food and Nutrition Security System) in the territories.

The activity focused on preparing participants for the collaborative activities of LAB #5, which will be held in Caxias do Sul from May 18 to 22, fostering spaces for peer exchange, active listening and the collective construction of solutions related to food and nutrition security in municipalities.

The workshop opened with welcoming remarks from Instituto Comida do Amanhã and ICLEI América do Sul, the organizations responsible for carrying out the initiative. During the meeting, participants attended a presentation by Thatiana Fávaro, acting general coordinator of the Extraordinary Secretariat for Combating Hunger of the Ministério do Desenvolvimento e Assistência Social, Família e Combate à Fome (MDS – Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger), on updates and outlooks related to SISAN.

Next, Juliana Tangari presented LUPPA’s position on the reform of SISAN, contextualizing the main challenges of food governance in municipalities and the paths toward strengthening public policies for Food and Nutrition Security (SAN).

The workshop’s main activity took place in discussion groups, organized as conversation circles. The activity invited reflection on how SISAN manifests itself, or fails to, in the practice of municipal public management, addressing topics such as intersectoral governance, planning, social participation, coordination between departments and the continuity of public policies. Participants also shared experiences about the challenges municipalities face in implementing SAN actions, especially in contexts of food insecurity and institutional fragility.

“Throughout the activity, we wanted to discuss collectively what differences SISAN makes when it exists in a structured way in the municipality, what functions it fulfills in practice and what challenges still hinder its implementation and strengthening. The idea was not to give a lecture on SISAN, nor to assess technical or regulatory knowledge, but rather to create a space for exchange and reflection,” said Juliana.

Stages

Throughout each edition, LUPPA is structured in different complementary stages: a training program, made up of ten online seminars and workshops held throughout the year, which delve into strategic themes for strengthening public food policies in the participating cities; LUPPA Lab, the in-person stage of immersion and exchange between municipalities; and LUPPA Web, an online event streamed live on Instituto Comida do Amanhã’s YouTube channel, which marks the close of the edition and presents the initiative’s next steps. This structure seeks to broaden understanding of food systems and strengthen institutional capacities to transform food in cities.

About the Program

LUPPA is a collaborative platform and an ongoing learning program to support and enable cities to promote food policies with a systemic approach, in an intersectoral, coherent and participatory way. Conceived by Instituto Comida do Amanhã and co-implemented with ICLEI Brasil, it receives full support from Instituto Ibirapitanga, ICS – Instituto Clima e Sociedade, ITAÚSA, Instituto Infinis and Porticus, as well as institutional support from FAO Brasil – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and methodological partnership from Reos Partners Brasil.