An online petition, which has collected more than 30,000 signatures, is demanding the return of full powers to the Brazilian Government body that works with civil society to implement policies leading to healthy diets.

Legal changes enacted by Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro on 1 January 2019 hamper the workings of the Brazilian Council for Food Security and Nutrition (CONSEA in Spanish) says the petition. It was created by FIAN International, the first international human rights organization to advocate for the realisation of the right to adequate food and nutrition.

Numerous successes

It says the Council’s successes to date include:

• Inclusion of the right to food in the Brazilian Federal Constitution;
• Approval of the Organic Law, the National Plan for Food and Nutrition Security, the Harvest Plan for Family Agriculture, the National Policy on Agroecology and Organic Production and the Food Acquisition Program;
• Food purchases from family farms by the National School Feeding Program and by other public agencies.

“In parallel to addressing the problem of hunger, actions have also been taken to deal with the rise of obesity and other non-communicable diseases that are of serious concern in Brazil. Therefore, the governance model in Food and Nutrition Security and CONSEA's experience have been internationally recognised and served as inspiration for many countries,” the petition says.
 

See the petition