From content to practice: training promoters for Healthy and Sustainable nutrition in Zacatecas.

Abstract

Sustainable nutrition is grounded in the local population's traditional diet, which implies connecting with actual food access practices. Training models and programs in this field must not only align with national and international agendas but also consider community practices and strategies. This work presents the results and reflections of an exploratory study conducted at the State System for Integral Family Development (DIF) of Zacatecas, Mexico, through collective interviews and content analysis of its digital educational platform. This study aimed to identify the difficulties faced by community promoters in encouraging healthy and sustainable eating practices within their intervention contexts, detecting experiences and training needs that drive collaborative and participatory work in the localities, as proposed by the Comprehensive Strategy for Social Assistance, Food, and Community Development (EIASADC, by its Spanish acronym). The study underscores the need to develop strategies that enable promoters, acting as cultural mediators, to advance the EIASADC approach in accordance with health promotion principles. It concludes that there is a pressing need to shift from a top-down knowledge-transfer model to one that recognizes the practices, localized knowledge, and strategies that shape individual subjectivity, where horizontality and pedagogical centrality serve as the primary catalysts.