Have you ever thought about the path that food follows from the farm to the market? This is known as the food supply and distribution system, and is composed of six stages: origin, transformation, storage/conservation, transport-distribution, sale and consumption. Cities play a leading role in most of them, so their planning and management are vitally important elements for … [Read more...] about Urban Food Security: How to connect our cities’ food systems?
Ana Maria Huaita Alfaro
Huaita-Alfaro, Ana Maria is an urban food markets expert. She joined FAO in 2020 to work as an international consultant in global projects falling this field. As an independent consultant and researcher, Ana Maria has strongly engaged with activities of knowledge co-production and sharing for enhanced participation in urban governance, applying the lens of food to highlight demands on renewed urban visions and planning around food centres – mainly markets. She has participated in the set up and strengthening of urban food platforms in Peru, connecting leaders of market traders and farmers’ associations, government authorities, academia and international organisations. She has strengthened these commitments by engaging with international networks of researchers and planning practitioners for urban food markets. She has also conducted studies on tourism and gastronomic potentials based on the Peruvian ‘gastronomic’ boom of the past decade. She has been part of the FAO Investment Centre team dedicated to agrifood markets and logistics, and has been actively engaged in the global study on wholesale food markets, evaluating potentials for their upgrading based on their roles for urban food systems. Ana Maria holds a Ph.D. in Development Planning from University College London, an M.Phil. in Environment, Society and Development from the University of Cambridge, and a Postgraduate diploma in design and management of social projects from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
Urban Food Security: where should wholesale markets be located?
Markets have been, since their creation, the epicenter of city life. They are places where goods are exchanged, where people meet, but above all, they are the places that make food security possible in our cities. Markets, as we know them today, date back to the 19th century. They are the result of the predominant urban planning ideas of that period, which advocated … [Read more...] about Urban Food Security: where should wholesale markets be located?