Sustainable Diets

Biologically diverse diets are more likely to be nutritionally
replete, and contain intrinsic protective
factors. An increasing number of initiatives promote
dietary diversity for improved child nutrition and
protection against chronic diseases. The agricultural
biodiversity central to diverse diets, including
many lesser-known and underutilized plant species,
has developed over millennia through biocultural
evolution of the plant genome and associated cultural
codes. However, the biocultural diversity of
food plants is under threat from changing eating
patterns, intensive agriculture, and climate change,
resulting in a loss of local food plant diversity from
diets and threatening food and nutrition security. We
recommend a holistic approach promoting the use
of traditional food plant diversity together with
conservation of genetic material and associated
traditional knowledge.

This paper presents the results of a systematic literature review of greenhouse gas emissions for different food categories from life cycle assessment (LCA) studies, to enable streamline calculations that could inform dietary choice. The motivation for completing the paper was the inadequate synthesis of food greenhouse gas emissions available in the public domain. The paper reviewed 369 published studies that provided 1,718 global warming potential (GWP) values for 168 varieties of fresh produce. A meta-analysis of the LCA studies was completed for the following categories: fresh vegetables (root vegetables, brassica, leaves and stems); fresh fruits, (pepo, hesperidium, true berries, pomes, aggregates fruits and drupes); staples (grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and rice); dairy (almond/coconut milk, soy milk, dairy milk, butter and cheese); non-ruminant livestock (chicken, fish, pork); and ruminant livestock (lamb and beef). The meta-analysis indicates a clear greenhouse gas hierarchy emerging across the food categories, with grains, fruit and vegetables having the lowest impact and meat from ruminants having the highest impact. The meta-analysis presents the median, mean, standard deviation, upper and lower quartile, minimum and maximum results for each food category. The resultant data enables streamline calculations of the global warming potential of human diets, and is illustrated by a short case study of an Australian family’s weekly shop. The database is provided in the Appendix as a resource for practitioners. The paper concludes with recommendations for future LCA studies to focus upon with respect to content and approach

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of fennel
and thyme dietary supplements on the feeding of rabbits. Eighty-five weaned
rabbits (35 days old), white New Zealand (of both sexes), were divided into
four groups and submitted to the following dietary treatments: Control diet, diet
F (Control diet + 2.5% Foeniculum vulgare seeds), diet T (Control diet + 2.5%
Thymus capitatus leaves) and diet FT (Control diet + 2.5% Foeniculum vulgare
seeds and Thymus capitatus leaves) for twenty-five days. The treatment with
fennel and thyme had a beneficial effect on the mortality rate (18%). However
the growth rate, feed conversion ratio and carcass yield were not influenced by
dietary fennel and/or thyme supplementation. The antimicrobial effect of thyme
(2.5%) was observed only against C. perfringens in the caecum (P < 0.05), but
no effect was observed on the caecal count of or C. perfringens in the other
treated groups.
KEY WORDS: rabbit, fennel, thyme, growth
parameters, caecal microflora

Increasingly high-profile research is being undertaken into the socio-environmental challenges associated with the over-production and consumption of food from animals. Transforming food systems to mitigate climate change and hidden hunger, ensure food security and health all point to reducing animal-based foods as a key lever. Moving beyond animal-based food systems is a societal grand challenge requiring coordinated international research by the social sciences and humanities. A ‘selective openness’ to this range of disciplines has been observed within multi-discipline research programmes designed to address societal grand challenges including those concerned with the sustainability of food systems, a situation that can inhibit the impact of social sciences and humanities. Further, existing research on animal-based foods within these disciplines is largely dispersed and focused on particular parts of the food system. This paper discusses the results of a research prioritisation process, inspired by the ‘Sutherland Method’, and carried out to enhance capacity, mutual understanding and impact amongst European social sciences and humanities researchers. The iterative prioritisation process produced 15 research questions from an initial list of 100 which we classify under the following five themes: 1) Debating and visioning food from animals; 2) Transforming agricultural spaces; 3) Framing animals as food; 4) Eating practices and identities; 5) Governing transitions beyond animal-based food systems. The themes are important in providing a means of making connections between research questions inviting and steering  research on key challenges in moving beyond animal-based food systems. These five themes propose loci for future transdisciplinary research programmes,  joining researchers from the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities, and stakeholders from beyond academia to develop cooperative research and implementation initiatives. The experiences gained from the prioritisation process draw attention to the value of spending time to discuss and collaboratively steer research inquiry to  respond to emergent and controversial matters of concern. A key tension concerned fundamental, ethical questions around the continuation or complete cessation of the use of animals for food. The positioning of research towards these questions affects not only the framing of the research area but also the partners with whom the research can be carried out and to whom it may be of benefit or harm.

Global food production and consumption have witnessed significant changes in the past five decades. Paying attention to rising crop yields and enhancing cultivation practices have brought about enhanced life expectancy, reduced rates of infant and child mortality, and reduced world poverty (Whitmee et al. 2015; Steffen et al. 2015; Willett et al. 2019). However, these health-related advantages are being jeopardized by global shifts toward unhealthy diets mostly in the developed countries and carbohydrate dense foods in the developing countries (Global Panel 2016; IFPRI 2017). These dietary shifts are partly caused by increasing urbanization, rise in incomes, and inadequate or lack of access to nutritious and healthy foods. Movement toward unhealthy diets increases the burden of obesity and diet-related NCDs coupled with imparting the environment negatively (Tilman and Clark 2014; Springmann et al. 2016;Willett et al. 2019). With increased growth and progress in food industry, food systems are becoming more complex with possible adverse effects on human health and nutrition especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) already faced with chronic hunger and multiple forms of malnutrition (Global Panel 2016; HLPE 2017; Otekunrin et al. 2019a, b, c; Otekunrin et al. 2020c; Global Nutrition Report 2020).

The concept of sustainable diets has been proposed to characterize dietary patterns and assess their sustainability in different agro-ecological zones. This paper describes the work conducted since 2010 to develop a methodological approach to be used for assessing the sustainability of dietary patterns. It identifies four main areas to be considered and provides a first list of indicators or families of indicators to be used and tested. The Mediterranean diet, scientifically well-characterized as a healthy dietary pattern, appreciated for its lower environmental impact and acknowledged as a cultural heritage, is used here as a model to assess sustainability of diets and food consumption patterns in the Mediterranean area. The methodological approach described here will be further refined and tested to be used to assess sustainability of diets and food consumption patterns in different contexts. Keywords: sustainability, diet, food consumption, Mediterranean diet, indicators.

[ES] La agricultura animal es una actividad con un gran impacto medioambiental, incluida la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero a la atmósfera, y que implica un grave dilema ético por la explotación de decenas de miles de millones de animales no humanos. Los medios de comunicación son una pieza clave para impulsar la acción climática. Es responsabilidad de los medios informar sobre las causas de la crisis climática y cómo enfrentarla. Esta investigación analiza la representación que hace la prensa española entre 2013 y 2019 del impacto climático de la agricultura animal. Para ello se ha utilizado una metodología cuantitativa basada en la teoría del framing, con encuadres construidos a partir de investigaciones anteriores. Los resultados muestran que la prensa española ha infrarrepresentado el papel de la agricultura animal en el cambio climático, no otorgándole suficiente visibilidad, que buena parte de las soluciones que los periódicos aportan no se ajusta al contexto de emergencia climática y que estas presentan con más frecuencia rasgos carnistas que encuadres en defensa de los animales no humanos, todo lo cual supone un freno a la acción ético-climática.

[EN] The animal agriculture industry has extensive environmental impacts, releasing greenhouse gas emissions while also constituting a serious ethical dilemma due to the exploitation of billions of nonhuman animals. In this respect, media are a key piece for climatic action. It is a responsibility of media to report on the causes of the climate crisis and on its solutions. This research analyses the Spanish press coverage of the climatic impacts caused by the animal agriculture during the period of 2013-2019. To do so, a quantitative methodology based on framing theory has been applied, including frames developed through the examination of previous research. The results of this study show that the Spanish press has underrepresented the role that animal agriculture plays in climate change – not allocating enough attention to it –, that many of the proposed solutions do not correspond with the current context of climatic urgency, and that they present carnist traits more frequently than frames in defence of nonhuman animals. All this involves hindering future ethical and climatic action.

The concept of sustainable diets has been proposed to characterize dietary patterns and assess their sustainability in different agro-ecological zones. This paper describes the work conducted since 2010 to develop a methodological approach to be used for assessing the sustainability of dietary patterns. It identifies four main areas to be considered and provides a first list of indicators or families of indicators to be used and tested. The Mediterranean diet, scientifically well-characterized as a healthy dietary pattern, appreciated for its lower environmental impact and acknowledged as a cultural heritage, is used here as a model to assess sustainability of diets and food consumption patterns in the Mediterranean area. The methodological approach described here will be further refined and tested to be used to assess sustainability of diets and food consumption patterns in different contexts. Keywords: sustainability, diet, food consumption, Mediterranean diet, indicators.

This paper summarises the simulated effects on Finnish agricultural production and trade of a 20% decrease in Finn-ish demand for red meat (beef, pork, lamb). According to our results, reduced red meat consumption would be offset by increased consumption of poultry meat, eggs, dairy products and fish, as well as small increases in consumption of fruits and vegetables, peas, nuts, cereal products and sweets. By including the derived demand changes in an agricultural sector model, we show that livestock production in Finland, incentivised by national production-linked payments for milk and bovine animals, would decrease by much less than 20% due to the complex nature of agricultural production and trade. Overall, assuming unchanged consumer preferences and agricultural policy, a 20% reduction in red meat consumption is not likely to lead to a substantial decrease in livestock production or changed land use, or greenhouse gas emissions, from Finnish agriculture.

It is surprising that in the early twenty-first century, a clear strategy of how best to eat for the health of humans and for the planet has not been really defined, or at least not exactly enough. But good guides are traditional dietary patterns that have proven nutritionally and environmentally healthy and sound, such as the Mediterranean or many Asian diets.

The environmental impact of food consumption depends on the type of foods consumed and the amount of food wasted. It follows that dietary change represents one means of directing food systems towards greater environmental sustainability. The difficulty, however, lies in developing ways of motivating people to modify what they purchase and eat, as many constraints potentially hinder changes in behaviour, including established habits, limited income, lack of information on environmental impact, cognitive limitations, or the difficulty of accessing environmentally friendly foods. In order to understand those constraints better, and identify potential target groups for intervention, we have analysed the
environmental impact of food consumption at household level in Finland, paying particular attention to lower socio-demographic groups.

The data originates from the Finnish Household Budget Survey 2006, which gives a detailed record of the foods (259 aggregates) consumed by over 4000 households. The food quantity data are matched to indicators of greenhouse gas emissions and eutrophication, as well as a food composition database. Tests of differences in means of the environmental indicators identify the socio-demographic groups that are
statistically different in terms of their environmental impact of food consumption. The total environmental impact is decomposed further into a diet composition effect (i.e., what foods households consume) and a quantity effect (i.e., how much food households consume).
Results indicate that the environmental impact varies widely across households, and that this heterogeneity relates both to the types and quantities of foods consumed. We find significant differences in impacts among socio-demographic groups. For instance, household income is strongly and positively associated with greenhouse gas emissions from food consumption (i.e., relatively better off households have a relatively larger climate change impact). Educational level is also positively associated with greenhouse gas emissions, although the relationship is not as strong as with income. On the other hand, differences in environmental impact for household types defined in terms of occupational status are small.
Overall, and on the basis of the two indicators considered, the lower socio-demographic groups have a relatively smaller ecological footprint of food consumption than households belonging to relatively higher groups.

The concept of sustainable diets has been proposed to characterize dietary
patterns and assess their sustainability in different agro-ecological zones. This
paper describes the work conducted since 2010 to develop a methodological
approach to be used for assessing the sustainability of dietary patterns. It identifies
four main areas to be considered and provides a first list of indicators
or families of indicators to be used and tested. The Mediterranean diet,
scientifically well-characterized as a healthy dietary pattern, appreciated for
its lower environmental impact and acknowledged as a cultural heritage, is
used here as a model to assess sustainability of diets and food consumption
patterns in the Mediterranean area. The methodological approach described
here will be further refined and tested to be used to assess sustainability of diets
and food consumption patterns in different contexts.