Secretaries of Health and Agriculture Outline Paths for a Renewed Food System
During the presentation of the EAT-Lancet Commission report on Healthy and Sustainable Food, held at the National Academy of Medicine, the Secretary of Health, David Kershenobich, stated that Mexico faces a structural challenge that requires transforming the food system based on principles of public health, social justice, and environmental sustainability.
This shift, he indicated, has driven the food industry to reformulate products, reducing calorie, sodium, saturated fat, and carbohydrate content.
The Secretary also emphasized the need to address food waste, estimated at 20 million tons per year, and highlighted the essential role of food banks in rescuing and redistributing consumable products to decrease food insecurity and its associated environmental impact.
In closing, Kershenobich highlighted a key priority recommendation to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, marking it as a central focus the Ministry of Health aims to strengthen.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development, Julio Berdegué Sacristán, affirmed that transforming the agri-food system is an urgent necessity requiring complex and sustained measures.
Both secretaries agreed that Mexico must accelerate the transition towards a more equitable, sustainable, and scientifically grounded food system for the benefit of the population and the environment.
The Director General of the National Public Health Institute (INSP), Eduardo Lazcano Ponce, underscored the global value of the EAT-Lancet monographs, highlighting their ability to link human health and environmental sustainability through quantitative goals that guide food system transformation.
An INSP researcher and commission member, Juan Rivera, presented the report's main findings, stressing the importance of advancing towards food systems that ensure accessibility, nutritional quality, social justice, and production within planetary boundaries.
The event brought together national and international specialists in nutrition, health, agriculture, and economics.
It identified actions such as the ban on 35 pesticides, the National Water Plan, climate initiatives exceeding one billion pesos, and the National Native Maize Plan: 'Maize is the Root,' aimed at strengthening traditional production and ancestral agricultural systems.
