The document provides guidance on the inclusion of Food and Nutrition Education in the Political-Pedagogical Project of federal, state, district, and municipal schools.
Brasília, Brazil, 9 June 2025 – The National Fund for Educational Development (FNDE) released Technical Note No. 4816230/2025/DIEAN/COSAN/CGPAE/DIRAE, which provides guidance for incorporating Food and Nutrition Education (FNE) into the curriculum and the Political-Pedagogical Project (PPP) of all schools participating in the National School Feeding Programme (PNAE). The objective is to promote integrated, participatory, and permanent practices involving school administrators, pedagogues, teachers, nutritionists, school feeding councils, and the entire school community.
The document highlights that the curriculum is the guiding element of everything taught and learned in school, bringing together knowledge, skills, values, and practices essential to students’ development. According to Brazil’s Law of Guidelines and Bases for National Education (LDB), the curriculum must ensure a common foundation while respecting cultural and regional diversities. Therefore, including FNE in this context reinforces its strategic role in the educational process and in the promotion of healthy eating habits.
The technical note presents six principles and strategies to guide implementation:
- Recognize the pedagogical dimension of all school activities;
- Ensure access to FNE knowledge for all PNAE stakeholders;
- Promote cross-cutting approaches in initial and continuing teacher training;
- Gradually integrate FNE into the school environment and curriculum;
- Value cultural identities and regional experiences;
- Align FNE actions with other MEC/FNDE programmes.
To support schools, the FNDE included in the note a suggested framework with eight implementation steps:
- Diagnosis and initial planning: analysis of the context and goal setting;
- Curriculum integration: use of transdisciplinary approaches and extracurricular spaces;
- Extracurricular activities: projects, workshops, and themed events;
- Continuous training: ongoing capacity building for educators and other school staff;
- Community engagement: involvement of families, managers, and partners;
- Thematic articulation: connecting with curriculum components, school cafeterias, gardens, and sustainable practices;
- School environment: direct relationship between curricular components and reference frameworks;
- Monitoring and evaluation: follow-up, feedback, and process adjustments.
After the technical note’s publication, during the Regional Seminar of the Midwest, held in Brasília on 29 May, the General Coordination of PNAE emphasized that the document aims to “move beyond isolated actions and encourage continuous pedagogical practices aligned with the curriculum, recognizing FNE as an essential educational tool.”
Grounded in more than 15 years of legal framework — including Law No. 11.947/2009, Law No. 13.666/2018, Resolution CD/FNDE No. 6/2020, and Decree No. 11.821/2023 — the technical note reinforces FNDE’s commitment to the holistic development of students. It also adds to other FNDE initiatives, such as the FNE Journey (since 2017), educational messages on healthy eating printed on the inside covers of textbooks from the National Textbook and Teaching Material Programme (PNLD) since 2016, and the “Comer é Aprender” (Eating is Learning) podcast, launched in 2025 in partnership with UNICEF to disseminate best practices in school environments.
