CSM Vision on Food Systems and Nutrition

An alternative to the CFS Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition

The present document was written through an autonomous, self-organized, and participatory process by the working Group on Food Systems and Nutrition of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSM) for relations with the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS). When the CFS embarked on the process of elaborating the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition in 2018, the CSM Working Group started a parallel process of building its own vision document for the Guidelines to transform food systems. The document has since evolved and remains open as a living document. It continues to be built around the experiences and the struggles of our constituencies on the ground.
This vision document has guided CSM’s engagement throughout the CFS policy convergence process for the Voluntary Guidelines on Food Systems and Nutrition, including during the negotiations phase.
It is with deep disappointment and disheartenment that the CSM has collectively decided that the CFS Voluntary Guidelines for Food Systems and Nutrition, endorsed by Member States, are not sufficient to achieve the urgently needed transformation of food systems.
Therefore, it is our collective vision document that will continue to guide the CSM constituencies in the future. Unlike the CFS Voluntary Guidelines, the CSM Vision document does offer a path towards food systems that serve, in a fair and equitable manner, the good living of ourselves and Mother Earth.