The Comida do Amanhã Institute is now a member of the School Meals Coalition’s global network of partners, joining over 140 organizations committed to promoting school meals and health and nutrition interventions in schools. The Coalition, created in September 2021 during the United Nations Food Systems Summit, has the mission of supporting governments in developing and expanding school feeding programs, ensuring that all children have access to healthy meals by 2030.

The initiative is co-led by Brazil, Finland and France, and has over 140 partners. The network brings together 108 Member States and 6 regional bodies for a comprehensive mobilization across various sectors, including education, nutrition, health, agriculture and social protection, promoting collaborative solutions to strengthen public policies and overcome structural challenges. The goal is to break down barriers and optimize resources in the implementation of school meals programs, with a focus on good practices, information and technical support. The Secretariat is carried out by the United Nations World Food Programme, which oversees the organization of the Coalition.

Upon joining the Coalition, Comida do Amanhã signed the Statement of Support, expressing its commitment to the initiative’s goals and its willingness to contribute to government efforts. The Institute will also be able to engage in the Partner Group, a space for exchanging experiences and good practices, in addition to participating in advocacy and communication actions to increase the cause’s visibility.

The entry of Comida do Amanhã into the School Meals Coalition – as well as its membership in the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty – aims to provide technical knowledge about the challenges and opportunities in implementing public food policies. In the School Meals Coalition, the goal is to provide knowledge especially about the Brazilian National School Meals Program (PNAE), its regulations for promoting both nutrition and local development, and its intersectoral financing and implementation models, under an extremely complex yet highly successful participatory and multi-level governance architecture.

Therefore, as an organization specializing in implementing public food policy in Brazil, particularly in food policy planning and multilevel governance, Comida do Amanhã seeks to contribute with this systemic yet pragmatic perspective to advocate for better school feeding programs worldwide.

Juliana Tângari, director of Comida do Amanhã, explains that for some years now Comida do Amanhã has been dedicated to studying the PNAE, gathering successful cases, identifying innovations in the models of implementation and promotion of locally produced food, examining the challenges of implementing the program and on the opportunities it creates, especially for sustainable local development and for enhancing state capacities in municipalities. “School meals programs are a very important gateway to a scenario of transformation and improvement at the local level. Since 2023, we have shared our expertise and information about Brazil to the main interlocutor organizations of the School Meals Coalition. It is only natural to formally join this international coalition and to be available for global sustainable development. For us, it is an honor and joy to be part of this collective work and advocacy space, which is fully aligned both with our content production within our intelligence area and with our programs aimed at strengthening public food policies”, she emphasized.

Currently, Comida do Amanhã is the only institution in Latin America included in the partner network in the category Academia, Research Institutes and Think Tanks. Check out the full list on the link.