During 2025, Fundación Alimentaris consolidated a territorial process in Santiago del Estero aimed at improving commensality practices and strengthening local food sovereignty. The work combined research, data analysis, and ongoing dialogue with people in the territory, making it possible to understand habits, routines, and cultural meanings linked to food, and to support transformations emerging from the community itself.
The process was grounded in two studies carried out in collaboration with the National University of Santiago del Estero (UNSE): a survey of the provincial production landscape and a study on family dynamics and dietary patterns in the General Paz neighborhood. These inputs, together with exchanges with organizations, teachers, community kitchens, and local producers, shaped the strategy of the Local Action Plan (PAL), which understands food as a human right and operates from a sustainable food systems approach.
“Food is much more than a biological necessity and an individual responsibility: it is a right and a collective construction,” explained Sol Laje, Director of Community Programs at the Foundation. “Working from a sustainable food systems perspective invites us to look beyond our plate and recognize that behind every food item there is a system that involves how it is produced, who produces it, how it is distributed, shared, and consumed,” she noted.
Based on this approach, the organization implemented initiatives that combined community communication, food education, support for small-scale producers, and accompaniment of neighborhood community kitchens.
The first of these was “With Flavor and Awareness,” a project that promoted an awareness-raising campaign created together with residents of the General Paz neighborhood. The campaign combined talks, visual materials, and activities in the streets and schools of the neighborhood. Community participation and the organic circulation of content demonstrated that conversations about food, health, and culture can gain strong momentum when rooted in the everyday realities of those who live there. The initiative involved local institutions such as José Hernández School, Anunciata Cocchetti School together with Fundación Casa de la Juventud, neighborhood grocery stores, UNSE, UCSE, the School of Ceramics, Nuestra Señora de Loreto School, and the Primary Health Care Unit. In addition, the campaign received two Gold awards at the 5th edition of the Premios Obrar Federal, which recognize outstanding public-interest communications with positive impact developed from and for audiences across the country, beyond the Buenos Aires metropolitan area.
Another line of work focused on schools. Through “Sowing Habits”, an educational kit was developed inviting children and teachers to reflect on the origin of food, its connection to the environment and local traditions, and the habits built both inside and outside the home. The material, made available free of charge, reached two institutions and more than 900 students, accompanied by open talks for families and educators at Anunciata Cocchetti and José Hernández primary schools.
Looking at Those Who Produce
Strengthening small-scale food production units also played a key role. Through the “Producer Boost” initiative, local food processors participated in technical interviews, physical-sensory analyses, and training sessions developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Industrial Technology (INTI). Ten producers took part in the Healthy, Sustainable and Culturally Appropriate Food Clinic, each receiving one in-depth technical interview. Twenty products were analyzed, and six virtual training sessions were held on process documentation, healthy eating, front-of-package labeling, product registration, and design.
Another fundamental axis of Fundación Alimentaris’ work in Santiago del Estero this year was support for community kitchens. Through “Kitchens in Action,” more than 80 people from six kitchens that cook daily for their neighborhoods participated in exchange spaces and technical assistance, working on safe, sustainable, and culturally appropriate practices. Utensils and ingredients were also provided to facilitate the implementation of the improvements addressed.
For Laje, the deeper meaning of this work emerges when commensality is understood as a collective act that goes beyond nutrition. “In the Community area, we emphasize people’s role as commensals rather than mere consumers,” she stated. “This approach helps us assume an active role within food systems and connect with everything that makes a meal possible: the land, the seeds, the hands that cultivated it, those who cooked it, and the knowledge passed down to bring it to our table. By sharing food, we also build relationships, community, and awareness about our food system.”
The experience in Santiago del Estero confirms that articulating data, local knowledge, and community participation can generate meaningful and sustainable transformations. These changes strengthen people’s autonomy and expand the full exercise of the right to sovereign, healthy, and culturally appropriate food.
