São Paulo Earns Guinness World Record for Largest Municipal Food Security Program

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – The city of São Paulo, Brazil, earned the Guinness World Record for having the world's largest municipal food security program, making it the first city in the world to be recognized in this category.

The achievement acknowledges the state capital's permanent public policy of dignified and continuous access to food for the population, said the city of São Paulo. The record was established after a Guinness audit confirmed the distribution of 933.8 metric tons of food in 24 hours. The city of São Paulo distributes more than 3 million meals on a daily basis.

São Paulo Mayor Ricardo Nunes received the Guinness certificate from the institution's adjudicator, Camila Borenstain, who attended the ceremony in Paraisópolis, a community in the southern part of the city.

Food security is considered a fundamental human right by the World Health Organization. The food security network managed by the city includes ready-made meals, fresh produce and staple food baskets. For official verification of the record, a historic mobilization took place on the so-called "Food Security D Day," Nov. 25, which involved more than 5,600 polling sites across the city and 1,500 people on the streets, said the city of São Paulo. 

"This achievement means a lot," said Nunes upon receiving the Guinness World Record certificate. "Only those who have experienced hunger know what I'm talking about; only those who have seen someone going hungry understand the importance of a robust food program." 

"It is an honor to evaluate this record achieved by the city of São Paulo: the largest municipal public food security program," said Borenstain.

The main programs considered in the achievement include the one that distributes school meals, which provide up to five meals a day to more than one million students in the municipal school system, said the city of São Paulo. In the early childhood segment, 325,000 children in early childhood education receive milk at home every month.

The city of São Paulo also distributes a total of 421,000 staple food baskets per month through the Cestas Básicas (Staple Food Baskets) and Cidade Solidária (Solidary City) programs.

The network also includes Bom Prato Paulistano (Good São Paulo Food), with 7,000 affordable meals per day, in addition to Rede Cozinha Escola (School Kitchen Network), which delivers 26,000 meals per day and offers professional training and Rede Cozinha Cidadã (Citizen Kitchen Network), which delivers 15,000 meals per day in the city's outskirts.

These actions are complemented by Armazéns Solidários (Solidary Warehouses), which offer discounts of up to 50% on essential food items for those registered with the CadÚnico program, and Banco de Alimentos (Food Bank), which donates 55 metric tons of products per month to social institutions.