Mrs. Heredia was a keynote speaker at the Second International Conference on Nutrition (ICN2), organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (OMS) in Rome.
In 2013, Mrs. Heredia was appointed FAO's Special Ambassador of Quinoa.
People, their health, their right to food and to a full life must be the main concern for trading without using food as an instrument for political or economic pressure, she said.
The First Lady also required recognition of Peruvian traditions and eating habits, aimed at supporting them and guaranteeing the genetic diversity of seeds, and to preserve traditional knowledge.She explained this will enable to guarantee the right to food for next generations.
Heredia stated "today more than ever before" we need to turn our gaze to those who silently provide food to the world, by taking care of our valuable biodiversity. Paradoxically, many times, they hold the first places concerning malnutrition and poverty."
"The agricultural families, guardians of ancestral farming as quinoa, and guardians of secular techniques as the Inca terraces system, have in their hands the protection of the planet's largest food biodiversity supply. But their job is not easy," the First Lady recognized.
"Today, hunger and malnutrition coexist with obesity and overweight; new illnesses associated to malnutrition. All of this as an expression of a system that privileges uncontrollable consumerism, profit, and individualism, over the people's welfare, common good and health," she criticized.
Later, Mrs. Heredia urged the countries of the world to limit the "junk" food consumption and to educate the new generations in responsible food consumption.
Nadine Heredia participated in the ICN2, which also featured: His Holiness Pope Francis, the Queen of Spain, the co-president of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates and the Princess of Morocco.
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