Much food is thrown away. Why not increasing adequate storage facilities to buffer natural variation in food availability?

Healthy and affordable food = Good Public Health.

So through community initiatives, public awareness, campaigning, lobbying and what are the best ways to plan and carry out your campaigns, one can move in that direction.

AND arrange for a minimum of transport, for environment's sake. Be better at using what we sow and reap nearby, instead of sending it twice around the globe.

Excellent initiatives and not costly at all ! Is then common sense insufficient present in our extravagant, wasteful society ? Not the entire society, but how often are we aware ?

Dear Ruxandra,

There are some local initiatives focusing on bringing healthy, affordable foods to neighborhoods that don’t have a grocery store nearby or adequate public transportation. One website to pursue the idea is given below:

http://www.youthempoweredsolutions.org/free-trainings-on-healthy-food-access/

For many jurisdictions, public policies are an effective way to increase access to healthy, affordable food. Cities and towns can change zoning and tax laws to make it easier to create new grocery stores, farmer’s markets, and community gardens. New regulations and incentives can help existing stores increase the number and variety of healthy products they sell. Local governments can also create food policy councils to give residents a voice in how best to improve access to healthy food.

Thank you for the link, Professor Omid. I add to my list "Healthy Corner Stores".  I already see them as a contributing vector for a healthier tissue of the communities.

Michele Obama, First Lady of the U.S., has undertaken to reform the content of public school lunches throughout the country to reduce carbohydrates and increase vitamin content intake through vegetables. The scale is and should be nationwide. It is quite another thing that schoolchildren (like my 9-yr-old grandson Colin) toss their veggies away. At least he has the option to do so while learning which foods are beneficial if nothing else.

Nelson,

I would like that our First Lady (since only 21-st of December, ... two days ago) does the same as Mrs. Obama, and, of course, at national scale. If I think better, I am quite optimistic !

And I think that Colin, your grandson, has a great chance to grow up in this new, healthier context. I'm sure he will become friend with the veggies, but children and veggies have, so to say, much "character" (I'm not sure if my English is correct, but in French what  I mean is said "avoir du caractère").

HFFI is a national effort to attract investment in under-served communities to support the development of fresh food retail services for communities who want and need access to healthier food. Loan and grant funding is provided through a variety of federal agencies, including the U.S. Treasury, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support development and expansion of healthy food retail. Such funding investments have been shown to jump start community economic development, provide much needed jobs, and create opportunities for improved access to healthy food through corner store conversions, the institution of farmers markets, and new or expanded supermarkets and other food retailers

http://centerfortotalhealth.org/tag/healthy-food-finance-initiative/

This is beneficial to American Indians and Alaska Natives AI/ANs who will be better able to compare plans and fully understand the type of coverage that is available to them. In addition the proposed rule will also urge QHPs to offer contracts to all Indian health care providers in their network and to include all the special terms and conditions under Federal law pertaining to Indian Health Care Providers, otherwise referred to as the "Indian Addendum." These proposed changes are a direct result of NIHB's advocacy efforts in these areas.

http://www.nihb.org/

Dear Ruxandra,

I agree with all that has been mentioned so far.

Yet I am afraid as long as a fast food hamburger/meals are cheaper than going to the grocery store and bying quality healthy food we will remain in an uphill battle. When the working poor can "feed" their family at Claydes big burger for X amount and shopping for quality food is 2X I am afraid we may be spinning our wheels.

One solution could be to place a tax on fast/junk food and use that revenue to bring down the cost of healthy sustainable foods. (A direct payment to the farmer or some other avenue).

Of course the best solution would be to make heathly food a human right, not contingent on the wallet.

Douglas 

Indeed, a beautiful dream "to make healthy food a human right" !

Hallo to everybody. I start from the last part of the question: which scale for a successful initiative?

For me action have to be performed on local scale. I possible to build a project with a large number of local initiatives, but to have a real impact action have to be undertaken in full collaboration with local communities. And will be the same if we are speaking with Mapuche people of Chile, Guaranies of Bolivia or citizens in the Municipality of Capannori en Italy.

Local initiatives can be calibrated on local needs and take advantage of local resources. An example: the use of biomass for the production of energy can be a solution in certain conditions or lead to big problems in the case of large power plants.

THERE are other elements: Mediterranean ecosystems are highly variable and have limited extensions, unlike some areas of central and northern Europe with large forests or large areas of homogeneous farmland.

HI,

you may have a look at these books for an overview of the issue

Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Agroecosystems (Advances in Agroecology)

Nov 24, 2003 by Mario Giampietro

Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment: The Nexus between Energy, Food, Water and Land Use (Routledge Explorations in Sustainability and Governance) Hardcover – May 21, 2014 by Mario Giampietro (Editor)

Best regards

Tiziano

Dear Ruxandra

                 I think initiative should be taken from the end of Government as well as local level to start projects putting more emphasis on growing some fruit crops like papaya etc (depending upon the soil and climate) which can be consumed safely as vegetables as well as fruits both and can be grown using less inputs.Some horticultural crops like tomato etc. can also be grown with arrangement for proper training for the growers to preserve the processed fruits. Government or local co-operatives should take initiative to start small scale fruit processing units in suitable areas to help the growers. It will be better if the farmers or growers can be provided with a training on marketing their produce or processed product.   

with regards

Thank you all for your contribution. Most of the answers have highlighted the importance of integrating the local communities in such initiatives from the very beginning, irrespective the scale.

On my side, I appreciate a project that is being developed in my country, Romania, called "The vegetable garden in the schoolyard" (Gradina din curtea scolii), initiated by a small group of enthusiast volunteers. They work with children from 6 to 14 years enrolled in an optional course each Saturday (there are no classes on Saturdays in Romania).  There is a lot of fun in doing education by gardening (https://www.facebook.com/GradinaDinCurteaScolii) ... but only 4 schools - each in a different county - do this, since the start of the project 3 years ago ...

Integration of local and regional initiatives seems the most effective solution.

Here is an inspiring example of partnership between the Minister of Agriculture and several schools in US:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAY9ZlvOd80

 Dear Ruxandra,

In my research and field experience I have found how organic livestock farmers could bring affordable organic beef to local consumers' cooperatives. Livestock farmers sold those animals rejected by slaughterhouses (just because they did not fixed to their quality indicators and standards: carcass conformation, carcass fat color, etc.). That way, consumers benefited from high quality and healthy products, while helping organic farming to make a profitable business and thus working together on local development.

The studies published on these experiences so far are posted on my profle.

Regards,

Alfredo J. Escribano.

I really appreciate your work, Alfredo. It's dedicated to consumers and organic farmers while it's also a solution to unreasonable food waste. Great !

Promoting production and Consumer Education.

Organic farming combined with animal husbandry