We often hear that we are what we eat. At COP30, we might finally become what we preach.

For the first time in the history of the UN Climate Conferences, the food offered to delegates, negotiators, civil society, and workers will itself be part of the climate solution. Na Mesa da COP30 (COP30 Food Initiative) has secured a formal commitment that at least 30% of all food served at COP30 in Belém will come directly from family farming, agroecological production, and Amazonian socio-biodiversity.

This achievement is not symbolic. It represents years of coordination between civil society, local producers, and government actors to align the food systems of the conference with the same principles that guide the climate negotiations themselves: sustainability, equity, resilience, and less GHG emissions.

From Policy Paper to Policy Practice

The idea behind Na Mesa da COP30 is deceptively simple: if we apply food policies every day, why not do the same in the Climate Conference?

What began as a collaborative recommendation among civil society organizations - including Instituto Regenera, Instituto Comida do Amanhã, and the WFP Center of Excellence Against Hunger in Brazil - quickly evolved into an inter-institutional strategy that now guides how food will be sourced, stored, and served during COP30.

The initiative’s Policy Recommendation, formally acknowledged by the National Council on Food and Nutrition Security (CONSEA) and supported by the National Commission for Agroecology and Organic Production (CNAPO) and the National Council of Traditional Peoples and Communities (CNPCT), called for the Brazilian government to ensure that food provision at COP30 reflects the country’s leadership in public food policies and its commitment to agroecology. It is not an exaggeration to say that what we will eat at COP depends directly on these democratic institutions.

What followed was an intense year of advocacy, mapping, and negotiation. The coalition developed a database of over 80 cooperatives and associations across Pará state - many led by Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendant communities, and women farmers - ready to supply the event with local, sustainable, and culturally rooted food.

In June 2025, at SB-62 meeting, this groundwork started to pay off: the official procurement rules for COP30 restaurants incorporated the 30% minimum sourcing requirement from family farming, and multiple partners are now involved in securing logistics, distribution, and storage infrastructure, in collaboration with CONAB (the National Supply Company) and the SECOP, the special secretariat under the Brazilian Presidency responsible for COP30 infrastructure.

By telling the story of climate action through the lens of food, the initiative reframed what "sustainability" tastes like. COP30, hosted in the Amazon, will now showcase local biodiversity on every plate, turning the act of eating into a form of storytelling, advocacy, and connection.

Building the Production Base for a New Kind of Legacy

One of the initiative’s achievements has been securing the recognition of smallholder mapping as a technical reference for the COP’s catering procurement. This mapping was essential to demonstrating that Amazonian farmers and cooperatives already have the capacity to meet the scale and quality standards of a global conference.

The effort now focuses on ensuring the infrastructure to deliver: storage, transport, and food service logistics are being coordinated between SECOP and CONAB, supported by local cooperatives. At the same time, Na Mesa is working to ensure that farmers are physically present within COP30, not only as suppliers but as representatives of this transformation - visible, vocal, and proud of the legacy they are helping to create.

A Coalition of Many Tables

Na Mesa da COP30 is powered by a coalition of more than 40 partner organizations, from national NGOs to academic institutions, philanthropic foundations, and grassroots networks. Members are part of four working groups (articulation, communication, production basis, and protein transition). Agroecological organizations such as Central do Cerrado and Rede Bragantina (which will operate the workforce restaurant inside COP30), as well as Porticus, Instituto Clima e Sociedade (iCS), and other funders committed to leaving a tangible legacy.

The initiative is a living example of what agroecology and food sovereignty mean in practice: not just production methods, but relationships, governance, and shared purpose. It bridges ministries, international organizations, farmers’ cooperatives, and communicators - each bringing their own expertise to a single table.

From COP30 to the Future: Food as a Climate Policy Tool

As we approach COP30, the Na Mesa coalition is not slowing down. A partnership with the WFP Centre of Excellence will result in a playbook and audiovisual documentation of the COP30 food experience - capturing lessons learned, procurement models, and governance mechanisms that can serve as a policy benchmark for future global events such as the UN Biodiversity COP and the Desertification COP.

By documenting and sharing these practices, Na Mesa da COP30 aims to inspire other countries to turn food systems into climate solutions—integrating health, equity, and biodiversity into the heart of event planning and public policy.

In a year when Brazil is preparing to show the world how land use, forests, and agriculture can coexist for the planet’s future, the way we feed the delegations to come will be in the action agenda.

Empty Stomach Negotiations Are Harder to Evolve

Na Mesa da COP30 is more than a menu - it’s a message. It reminds us that climate action must be lived and experienced, not just negotiated.

If COP30 is about transforming the relationship between people, land, and climate, then food is the perfect place to start. Because, as we like to say in Brazil, you can’t talk about saving the planet on an empty stomach.