Editing Mika/Temp/WikiFCD (section)

===What is the problem you're trying to solve?===
''What problem are you trying to solve by doing this project? This problem should be small enough that you expect it to be completely or mostly resolved by the end of this project.'' 
''Remember to [[Grants:Project/Tutorial#problem|review the tutorial]] for tips on how to answer this question.''<br/><br/>

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[[File:Marketvegetables.jpg|thumb|200px]]

Food, nutrition, and health are some of the most highly engaged topics in the Wikimedia ecosystem, and around the world.  [[Food_composition_data| Food Composition Data (FCD)]] is a key piece connecting those three topics, providing nutrient data for each food item. There is a need for an open and structured database for a global FCD and Wikimedia - especially Wikidata - is a perfect place to accommodate some of these data. Due to the diversity and complexity of the existing FCDs, it would be helpful to have a placeholder that can accommodate all the details from the existing FCDs, from which Wikidata project editors can pull information deemed appropriate for Wikimedia. Accommodating all the details are important as the needs within Wikimedia projects can change over time. 

We believe that Wikimedia is an appropriate venue to pursue for this project. Many FCDs - which currently come in various different formats (e.g. PDF, CSV) - include varying degrees of details. Nutrient content of unprocessed food items (e.g. apples) can also vary for the same item from different areas and times because of changing characteristics such as climate and terroir. However, the current FCDs are not well-suited for reflecting these changes. In fact, research institutes and intergovernmental agencies have attempted to create a global FCD in the past and none has succeeded to this date. Development and maintenance of such database are difficult if the contributors are limited to small/closed groups of researchers and employees in this field. Importantly, even though there are also wide regional variations in foods that are commonly consumed, some places lack access to regionally appropriate FCD, up-to-date FCD, or FCD in their own languages, leading to disparities in data availability and accessibility and ultimately, in scientific evidence in health research. We need a more open and collaborative system.