Promoting Human Local Development in Paripe, a suburban neighborhood of Salvador in Brazil,

by valorizing local food production.

Guarantee access of all indispensable nutrients to all by promoting and valorizing locally produced food. Valorizing and promoting the jobs carried out by local food producers, such as fishermen, and demonstrate how important locally produced food, using natural methods is and can be for health and wellbeing. Furthermore, promote the consumption of fresh and natural food, which has not been subject to the addition of chemical ingredients. All these ideas will be promoted by the creation of a communitarian consortium of food suppliers and a local supermarket which will be run and depends exclusively from the local community, promoting transparency and whose main driver will not only be profit but also quality and healthy food. Valorize and see food as a product deriving from mother nature, where seasons and other factors have to be taken into account, and change the vision that food is a commodity like any other one in the globalized market. Promote the idea that the mass production of food can lead to the decrease in quality and healthiness of it.

Abstract:

Vasco BernardiCristina SodiAndrea Santi

Author

BCFN Young Earth Solutions YES!

Title  given  by  the  BCFN:  Food  and  sustainability:  How  to  reduce  the  environmental  impact,  guaranteeing  health  and  access  to  food  for  all.      Title  of  Project:    Promoting   Human   Local   Development   in   Paripe,   a   suburban   neighborhood   of  Salvador  in  Brazil,  by  valorizing  local  food  production.      Authors:  Vasco  Bernardi,  Cristina  Sodi,  Andrea  Santi    Introduction  Our  project  aims  to  create  a  simple  solution  that  gives  the  community  and  its  citizens  the  access  to  healthy  locally  produced  food,  valorizing  the  role  food  plays  for  health  and  wellbeing,  valuing  local  knowledge  and  traditions  related  to  food  and  promoting  “local  human  development”.      Why  Brazil?    Brazil   is  part  of  the  famous  BRICS,  which  are  all  deemed  to  be  at  a  similar  stage  of  newly   advanced   economic   development.   Brazil   has   been   highly   influenced   by   the  USA   in   many   ways,   and   the   way   to   produce   and   consume   food   has   been   one   of  them.    We  know  that,  “around  one  in  seven  Brazilians  are  classed  as  obese  (13.9  per  cent)  up  from  11.4  per  cent  four  years  ago  and  still  far  lower  than  the  rate  of  one  in  three  (33.8  per  cent)   in   the  US.”1  Unfortunately,  "Brazil's  obesity   rate  could  match  US  by  2022”2.    An  article  that  summarizes  the  topics  discussed  at  the  fourth  National  Conference  on  Food  Security  of  Brazil,  states  “16  million  people  who  still   live  in  extreme  poverty”3  and   “specially   among   vulnerable   groups   such   as   indigenous   people   and   the  'quilombola'   communities,   descendants   of   African   slaves,   the   problem   of   food  remains   very   serious   and   food   insecurity   continues   unabated”4.   The   unresolved  problem   to   distribute   food   equally,   food   for   all,   and   problems   arising   from   over-­‐nutrition  all  meet  in  Brazil  today.      Why  Salvador  ?    The  city  of  Salvador  de  Bahia   in  Brazil   is   the  city  with   the  highest  number  of  Afro-­‐Brazilian  descendants.  One  of  the  suburban  impoverished  suburban  neighborhoods  of  Salvador  is  Paripe.  It   is  an  impoverished  community  marginalized  in  every  sense,  from  political  decisions  or  from  access  to  public  services.  It  is  difficult  to  have  precise  and   actual   data   on   Paripe.   Nonetheless   Paripe   also   has   resources   such   as   a   good  communitarian  organization5  and  people  whose   job   involves  supplying   food  and  or  processing  it.          

                                                                                                               1http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/8204625/Brazils-­‐obesity-­‐rate-­‐could-­‐match-­‐US-­‐by-­‐2022.html  2http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/8204625/Brazils-­‐obesity-­‐rate-­‐could-­‐match-­‐US-­‐2http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/8204625/Brazils-­‐obesity-­‐rate-­‐could-­‐match-­‐US-­‐by-­‐2022.html  3  3  http://www.news.va/en/news/americabrazil-­‐food-­‐security-­‐prices-­‐increase-­‐and-­‐ob  4  http://www.news.va/en/news/americabrazil-­‐food-­‐security-­‐prices-­‐increase-­‐and-­‐ob  5  http://www.amicidigianni-­‐pati.org/?page_id=438    consulted  il  13  Agosto  2012  

 Our  project:  A  supplier  consortium  and  a  local  supermarket  in  Paripe    Aim  of  the  Project    

• Create  a  network  of   all   the  persons   that   are   involved   in   food   supply   in   the  community.   This   includes:   fishermen,   chicken,   pork   and   cattle   farmers,  vegetable  and  fruit  producers,  women  who  process  fruit  into  jam  or  desserts,  in  simple  words  all  local  members  of  the  community  who  are  involved  in  food  in  the  supply  and  processing  of  food.    

• Create  a  communitarian  consortium  of  all  the  food  suppliers.  This  consortium  will  have  the  aim  to  valorize  the   local   food  products  and  defend  those  who  supply  these  products.    

• Minimize  the  steps  between  supplier  and  consumer,  in  order  to  eliminating  useless   costs   so   local   food  products   can  be   sold  at   an  accessible  price   for  the  community.  

• Gather  all  the  locally  produced  and  manufactured  products  in  a  supermarket  run  by  the  consortium  of  suppliers.  This  aims  to  create  a  supermarket  that  is  not   influenced   by   the   decisions   of   multinationals   (decentralized),   be   less  vulnerable  to  volatile  food  prices,  and  will  represent  a  place  where  local  food  products  are  promoted.    

 Creating  a  professional  team  to  support  the  consortium    A   team   (in   partnership   with   local   universities)   will   be   created   for   and   by   the  consortium  and  it  will  be  made  up  by:      

• A   local   nutritional   doctor   who   will   analyze   the   nutritional   needs   of   the  community,   in   particular   those   of   children   and   pregnant   mothers,   and  suggest  which  locally  produced  types  of  local  food  should  be  consumed  more  or  less.    

• A  local  agronomist  and/or  biologist  that  will  help  optimize  the  yield  of   food  from  the  territory  using  techniques  that  have  no  impact  on  the  environment  and  minimize  food  waste.    

• A   communitarian   educator   whose   goal   should   be   the   one   to   sensitize  children  and  adolescents   to   the   importance  of   following  a  “double  pyramid  diet”,  where  their  food  is  coming  from,  the  energy  and  time  used  to  produce  it,  and  therefore  not  only  the  monetary  value  it  has.    

• A  professional  who  controls  the  quality  of  the  processed  and  not  processed  food  supplied  by  the  consortium.    

             

Collaborators  Entities  with  which  we  are  in  touch  and  who  are  willing  to  cooperate  to  realize  this  project:    

- ASSOCIAZIONI  PATI  (http://www.pati.org.br)    - Universita  UNEB  (Universidade  do  Estado  da  Bahia),  Brazil  - Cattedra  Transdisciplinare  Unesco  in  Sviluppo  Umano  e  Cultura  di  Pace  - Universita   di   Firenze,   Facoltà   di   Scienze   della   Formazione   ,   Dipartimento   di  

Scienze  dell'Educazione  e  dei  processi  culturali  e  formative.  - Citizens  and  representatives  of  the  community  of  Paripe  

 General  Objectives:    

• Promote  human  local  development    • Contribute   to   overcome   the   marginalization   of   the   community,   the   social  

integration  of  young  members,  adults  and  their  families.      Specific  objectives:    

1. Contribute   to   prevent   diseases   and   pathologies   that   derive   from   an  inadequate  diet.    

2. Improve  the  social  economic  conditions  of  the  community  of  Paripe  3. Maximize  local  development  of  the  territory  respecting  the  environment  and  

the   local   natural   resources   by   promoting   the   consumption   of   locally  produced  food  products.    

4. Valorize   the   jobs   of   farmers,   grazers,   poultry   farmers,   fishermen,   and   local  food  manufacturers.    

5. Sensitize   and   educate   pregnant   women   and   children   to   the   essential   role  food  plays  in  their  everyday  life.    

6. Valorize  the  women’s  labor  of  the  community  of  Pairpe    7. Prefer   and   codify   the   local   methods   of   production   that   minimize   their  

environmental  impact        8. Increase  local  governance    9. Increase  empowerment  of  the  women  of  Paripe    10. Valorize  the  local  culinary  culture.    11. Decrease   the   consumption   of   food   products   that   can   lead   to   non  

communicable  diseases    12. Promote  a  supply  chain  with  few  steps  in  the  middle,  promoting  the  idea  of  

“food  at  zero  kilometers”  and  the  benefits  deriving  from  this  philosophy.      Conclusion:    The   innovation  of   this  project  stands   in  creating  a  supermarket   that   is   run  by   local  members  of  the  community  and  the  food  in  it  supplied  by  the  local  members  of  the  community,  and  not  influenced  by  multinationals.  Profit  will  not  be  the  only  driver  of  this   supermarket,   but   quality   and   health   will   be   taken   into   account   in   this  supermarket.  The  community  of  Paripe  could  highly  benefit  from  a  project   like  this  one.      WORD  COUNT:  981  words  excluding  the  title