A woman with a scale selling fruit. Photo by Pau Casals via Unsplash.
Essay
Pass the Parcel #4 (final post): Metrics Matter by Anna Taylor
In this piece, FCRN member Anna Taylor takes the Pass the parcel series on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) forward after Marcel Beukeboom’s post on multi-stakeholder partnerships. You can read the first post by Corinna Hawkes here and Emile Frison’s second post here.Anna Taylor works as Executive Director of the Food Foundation since June 2015. The Food Foundation is a new independent organisation working to influence policy across the food system. She took up the post after 5 years at the UK Department for International Development (DFID) where she led the policy team on nutrition. Before joining DFID, Anna worked for a number of international organisations, including Save the Children and UNICEF. She has been at the forefront of international leadership on nutrition for several years.Note that this will be the last piece in the series on the SDGs. We will bring you another Pass the parcel series focused on another topic soon. Do get in touch if you have suggestions for a particular topic and if you would like to contribute.
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Global or local food chains? Uncovering the dilemmas in Senegal and Peru – new report by IIED
This International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) report looks into the dilemma facing developing countries and emerging economies in deciding whether they should favour local over global food chains. Using case studies from Senegal and Peru this paper shows a new and complex reality that challenges ideological views about re-localising food production and consumption. It analyses national policies and food chain practices of increasingly globalised markets, and shows that in both countries local food chains are complementary rather than an alternative to imported food.
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U.S. government rejects inclusion of sustainability in dietary guidelines despite expert advice
It has been announced that the U.S. will not be incorporating sustainability into the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans (which are updated every five years). According to a blog-post written by Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services  (HHS Secretary) and Tom Vilsack, Department of Agriculture USDA Secretary, the US government does “not believe that the 2015 DGAs are the appropriate vehicle for this important policy conversation about sustainability.” The two argue that although the final recommendations are still being drafted, the final guidelines should remain within the mandate in the 1990 National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act (NNMRRA);  to provide “nutritional and dietary information and guidelines”… “based on the preponderance of the scientific and medical knowledge.”
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New Swedish dietary guidelines that integrate sustainability and health aspects available in English.
FCRN has previously highlighted the new Swedish dietary guidelines in a blog-post, “Environmental concerns now in Sweden’s newly launched dietary guidelines” by the Swedish researcher and FCRN collaborator Elin Röös, where she also talks to representatives from the Swedish Food Agency about the challenges involved in writing the new guidelines. This report is now available in full in English. 
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