scholarly journals Demographic Scenarios of Future Environmental Footprints of Healthy Diets in China

Foods ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 1021
Author(s):  
Aixi Han ◽  
Li Chai ◽  
Xiawei Liao
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Environmental Constraints ◽  
Environmental Footprints ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
Nutritional Needs ◽  
Near Future

Dietary improvement not only benefits human health conditions, but also offers the potential to reduce the human food system’s environmental impact. With the world’s largest population and people’s bourgeoning lifestyle, China’s food system is set to impose increasing pressures on the environment. We evaluated the minimum environmental footprints, including carbon footprint (CF), water footprint (WF) and ecological footprint (EF), of China’s food systems into 2100. The minimum footprints of healthy eating are informative to policymakers when setting the environmental constraints for food systems. The results demonstrate that the minimum CF, WF and EF all increase in the near future and peak around 2030 to 2035, under different population scenarios. After the peak, population decline and aging result in decreasing trends of all environmental footprints until 2100. Considering age-gender specific nutritional needs, the food demands of teenagers in the 14–17 year group require the largest environmental footprints across the three indicators. Moreover, men’s nutritional needs also lead to larger environmental footprints than women’s across all age groups. By 2100, the minimum CF, WF and EF associated with China’s food systems range from 616 to 899 million tons, 654 to 953 km3 and 6513 to 9500 billion gm2 respectively under different population scenarios. This study builds a bridge between demography and the environmental footprints of diet and demonstrates that the minimum environmental footprints of diet could vary by up to 46% in 2100 under different demographic scenarios. The results suggest to policymakers that setting the environmental constraints of food systems should be integrated with the planning of a future demographic path.

scholarly journals Seasonality of diet costs reveals food system performance in East Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (49) ◽  
pp. eabc2162
Author(s):  
Yan Bai ◽  
Elena N. Naumova ◽  
William A. Masters
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Prices ◽  
Food Environments ◽  
Nutrient Requirements ◽  
Nutritional Security ◽  
Retail Prices ◽  
Nutritional Needs ◽  
Significant Intensity ◽  
Climate And Society

Seasonal fluctuations in food prices reflect interactions between climate and society, measuring the degree to which predictable patterns of crop growth and harvest are offset by storage and trade. Previous research on seasonality in food systems has focused on specific commodities. This study accounts for substitution between items to meet nutritional needs, computing seasonal variation in local food environments using monthly retail prices for 191 items across Ethiopia, Malawi, and Tanzania from 2002 through 2016. We computed over 25,000 least-cost diets meeting nutrient requirements at each market every month and then measured the magnitude and timing of seasonality in diet costs. We found significant intensity in Malawi, Tanzania, and Ethiopia (10.0, 6.3, and 4.0%, respectively), driven primarily by synchronized price rises for nutrient-dense foods. Results provide a metric to map nutritional security, pointing to opportunities for more targeted investments to improve the year-round delivery of nutrients.

scholarly journals Healthy Diets and Reduced Land Pressure: Towards a Double Gain for Future Food Systems in Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Smeets-Kristkova ◽  
Thom Achterbosch ◽  
Marijke Kuiper
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Leverage Points ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
The Impact

Nigeria is one of the most dynamic economies in Africa. Strong GDP and population growth coupled with urbanization trends place tremendous pressures on natural resources and the food systems that are dependent on them. Understanding the impact of these “mega trends” is important to identify key leverage points for navigating towards improved nutrition and food security in Nigeria. This paper contributes to the Foresight Project of the Food Systems for Healthier Diets which aims to analyse how the food system in Nigeria is expected to transform in the next decades, and to identify the leverage points for making sure that the transformation contributes to balanced consumer diets. For the food systems foresight, a well-established global economy-wide model, MAGNET, is applied that enables to capture the interlinkages among different food industry players in one consistent framework. By linking MAGNET to the GENUS nutritional database, it is further possible to relate the developments occurring on a macro-level with detailed macro and micronutrient consumption. Model projections suggest that a process of intensification of agriculture in combination with land substitution appears critical for the evolution of food and nutrition security, and for shifts towards healthy diets for the population. Intensification results in greater diversity of the production systems, which in turn cascades into positive effects on the diversity in the food supply and better food security outcomes.

scholarly journals Are Local Food Systems Vectors of Sustainable Choices?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-82
Author(s):  
Corina Ene ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Systems Approach ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Local Food Systems ◽  
Determining Factors ◽  
Nutritional Needs ◽  
Global And Local ◽  
The Way

In the last few years, but even more so given the context the COVID-19 pandemic, a large series of global and local changes have occurred in all areas of life, including the way food is perceived and procured. The orientation towards local food as a preferred choice has gained more followers which are interested in economic, social and environmental effects of the way the world uses all kinds of resources to meet its nutritional needs. Local food involves a special kind of food systems approach in terms of determining factors and resulting implications for all actors involved. The paper deals with emphasizing different aspects of local food systems, including both agri-food producers and consumer’s drivers together with the effects of rethinking the way people choose to procure their food. The link to sustainable development is clearly highlighted using the multiple implications of this agri-food system upon different sectors and dimensions.

scholarly journals COVID-19 and Sustainable Food Systems: What Should We Learn Before the Next Emergency

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Bisoffi ◽  
Lilia Ahrné ◽  
Jessica Aschemann-Witzel ◽  
András Báldi ◽  
Kerstin Cuhls ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Food System ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Use Of Resources ◽  
The Social ◽  
Healthy Diets

Three key transitions leading to a “safe and just” operating space, with a focus on food systems, emerged during the development of a Foresight study promoted by SCAR (Standing Committee on Agricultural Research1): (a) sustainable and healthy diets for all; (b) full circularity in the use of resources; (c) diversity as a key component of stable systems. As consequence of COVID-19, food emerged again as a central element of life, along with health, after decades in which food security was taken for granted, at least in most developed countries. The COVID-19 outbreak offered the opportunity for a reflection on the importance of resilience in emergencies. Sustainable and healthy diets for all, was shown, during the pandemic, to depend much more on social and economic conditions than on technical aspects of food production and processing. Agriculture and the agro-industry have now a potential to absorb, at least temporarily, workers laid out in other sectors; the pandemic could be an opportunity to re-think and re-value labor relationships in the sector as well as local productions and supply chains. A full circularity in food systems also would benefit from stronger links established at the territorial level and increase the attention on the quality of the environment, leading to the adoption of benign practices, regenerating rather than impoverishing natural resources. Diversity is a key component of a resilient system, both in the biophysical sphere and in the social sphere: new business models, new knowledge-sharing networks, new markets. The three transitions would operate in synergy and contribute to the resilience of the whole food system and its preparation for a possible next emergency. Science can support policy making; however, science needs to be better embedded in society, to have a clear direction toward the grand challenges, to address the social, economic, behavioral spheres, to aim clearly at the common good. We need to re-think the conundrum between competition and cooperation in research, devising ways to boost the latter without sacrificing excellence. We need to improve the way knowledge is generated and shared and we need to ensure that information is accessible and unbiased by vested interests.

scholarly journals Why Food System Transformation Is Essential and How Nutrition Scientists Can Contribute

2018 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Lartey ◽  
Janice Meerman ◽  
Ramani Wijesinha-Bettoni
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
System Transformation ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Nutrition Security ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
New Thinking

Background: The International Union of Nutritional Sciences held its 21st International Congress of Nutrition in October 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina under the theme – From Sciences to Nutrition Security. In addition to multiple sessions on food systems and their links to diet, nutrition and health, the Congress closing lecture focused on the need to transform food systems so as to increase their capacity to provide healthy diets, making a call for greater involvement of nutrition scientists. Summary: This article presents the main messages of that lecture, providing (i) an overview of global nutrition trends and their links to diets, food environments and food systems, (ii) a synopsis of the current global momentum for food system transformation and (iii) the need for nutrition scientists to leverage this momentum in terms of increased evidence generation and policy advocacy. Key Messages: Poor quality diets are increasingly leading to the compromising of human health as never before; the prevalence of undernutrition persists and remains acute in vulnerable regions, and hunger is increasing concomitantly with an unprecedented rise in overweight, obesity and nutrition-related non-communicable diseases. Increasing access to healthy diets through faster, stronger implementation of supply and demand-side strategies that address the underlying drivers of today’s faulty food systems is imperative to solve these problems, as well as to address related environmental and economic costs. The global momentum for such action is increasing, but the evidence base needed to galvanize governments and hold stakeholders accountable remains yet a fledgling. To date, inputs from nutrition scientists to this reform agenda have been weak, especially given the unique contributions the field can make in terms of rigorous analysis and technical advice. Strengthened participation will require innovations in metrics and methodologies, combined with new thinking on what constitutes viable evidence and a greater willingness to engage with private sector agri-food actors.

Food System Resilience and Sustainability in Cambodia

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-75
Author(s):  
Joseph Messina ◽  
Tanita Suepa ◽  
Sieglinde Snapp ◽  
Jennifer Olson ◽  
A. Pouyan Nejadhashemi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Security Risk ◽  
Science Models ◽  
Socioeconomic Drivers ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
System Resilience ◽  
Near Future ◽  
Significant Intensification

Cambodia is witnessing a “Goldilocks moment” in demographic change concurrent with shifts in land use, hydrology, and climate. These trends interact and affect food production, food costs, and food security. Drivers of these trends are typically examined separately with interacting factors considered along disciplinary margins. While science models to explore these interacting effects have been proposed, there remains an applied research gap in integrating these pieces and assessing interdisciplinary opportunities for developing food security solutions. Developed following a request from USAID to elucidate food security conditions in Cambodia, here the authors present their geospatial synthesis of the biophysical and socioeconomic drivers of current food security risk, as well as explore future trends for those conditions. The overall structure shows several interlocking or mutually reinforcing trends in systems that point towards a significant intensification of food insecurity in the near future. They offer an assessment of future targets for food systems innovation.

scholarly journals Reverse thinking: taking a healthy diet perspective towards food systems transformations

Food Security ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. D. Brouwer ◽  
M. J. van Liere ◽  
A. de Brauw ◽  
P. Dominguez-Salas ◽  
A. Herforth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Environment ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Healthy Diet ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Conflicting Objectives ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
Low And Middle Income

AbstractFood systems that deliver healthy diets without exceeding the planet’s resources are essential to achieve the worlds’ ambitious development goals. Healthy diets need to be safe, accessible, and affordable for all, including for disadvantaged and nutritionally vulnerable groups such as of smallholder producers, traders, and consumers in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, food systems are experiencing rapid and drastic changes and are failing to fulfil these multiple duties simultaneously. The international community therefore calls for rigorous food systems transformations and policy solutions to support the achievement of healthy diets for all. Most strategies, however, are essentially supply- and market-oriented. Incorporation of a healthy diet perspective in food system transformation is essential to enable food systems to deliver not only on supplying nutritious foods but also on ensuring that consumers have access can afford and desire healthy, sustainable, and culturally acceptable diets. This paper argues that this should be guided by information on diets, dietary trends, consumer motives, and food environment characteristics. Transformational approaches and policies should also take into account the stage of food system development requiring different strategies to ensure healthier diets for consumers. We review current knowledge on drivers of consumer choices at the individual and food environment level with special emphasis on low- and middle income countries, discuss the converging and conflicting objectives that exist among multiple food-system actors, and argue that failure to strengthen synergies and resolve trade-offs may lead to missed opportunities and benefits, or negative unintended consequences in food system outcomes. The paper proposes a menu of promising consumer- and food-environment- oriented policy options to include in the food systems transformation agenda in order to shift LMIC consumer demand towards healthier diets in low- and middle income countries.

scholarly journals Sustainable food systems and healthy diets: the case of mediterranean diet

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-118
Author(s):  
Anka Trajkovska Petkoska ◽  
Anita Trajkovska-Broach
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Diet ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Virgin Olive Oil ◽  
Extra Virgin Olive Oil ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract Sustainability should be an imperative in everyone’s lifestyle in order to achieve an equilibrium between humans and ecosystem for the wellbeing of current and future generations. Sustainable food systems and healthy diets are main key-players to achieve sustainable planet and lifestyle and at the same time to be in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda of 17 global goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 to achieve better and sustainable future for all). Such food systems offer not only a way towards ending the hunger, but also enable healthy nations and less environmental pollution. A good representative of a sustainable food system is the Mediterranean diet that is affordable and accessible even in the regions far from the Mediterranean basin. Raw or minimally cooked plant-based food products flavoured by different herbs and spices are the foundation of this diet packed with powerful nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, enriched with healthy fats from extra virgin olive oil. The Mediterranean lifestyle provides many health and wellbeing benefits for humans. Authors believe that adhering to it leads to healthy nations and a sustainable world with less hunger.

scholarly journals Vegetables for Healthy Diets in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review of the Food Systems Literature

2022 ◽  
pp. 037957212110686
Author(s):  
Jody Harris ◽  
Winson Tan ◽  
Jessica E. Raneri ◽  
Pepijn Schreinemachers ◽  
Anna Herforth
Keyword(s):  
Scoping Review ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Food Group ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Scoping Reviews ◽  
Healthy Diets ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Background: Vegetables are an essential element in healthy diets, but intakes are low around the world and there is a lack of systematic knowledge on how to improve diets through food system approaches. Methods: This scoping review assessed how studies of food systems for healthy diets have addressed the role of vegetables in low- and middle-income countries. We apply the PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews to narratively map the literature to an accepted food systems framework and identify research gaps. Results: We found 1383 relevant articles, with increasing numbers over 20 years. Only 6% of articles looked at low-income countries, and 93% looked at single-country contexts. Over half of articles assessed vegetables as a food group, without looking at diversity within the food group. 15% looked at traditional vegetables. Issues of physical access to food were among the least studied food system topics in our review (7% of articles). Only 15% of articles used a comprehensive food system lens across multiple dimensions. There is also a research gap on the impacts of different policy and practice interventions (13% of articles) to enable greater vegetable consumption. Conclusions: Food system studies necessarily drew on multiple disciplines, methods and metrics to describe, analyze, and diagnose parts of the system. More work is needed across disciplines, across contexts, and across the food system, including understanding interventions and trade-offs, and impacts and change for diets particularly of marginalized population groups. Filling these gaps in knowledge is necessary in order to work toward healthy vegetable-rich diets for everyone everywhere.

scholarly journals Unravelling the interplay between water and food systems in arid and semi-arid environments: the case of Egypt

Food Security ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catharien Terwisscha van Scheltinga ◽  
Angel de Miguel Garcia ◽  
Gert-Jan Wilbers ◽  
Hanneke Heesmans ◽  
Rutger Dankers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Water Use ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Intervention Strategy ◽  
Water Volume ◽  
Blue Water ◽  
Production Distribution ◽  
Food Subsidy ◽  
Semi Arid

AbstractFood system analysis in arid and semi-arid countries inevitably meets water availability as a major constraining food system driver. Many such countries are net food importers using food subsidy systems, as water resources do not allow national food self-sufficiency. As this leaves countries in a position of dependency on international markets, prices and export bans, it is imperative that every domestic drop of water is used efficiently. In addition, policies can be geared towards ‘water footprints’, where water use efficiency is not just evaluated at the field level but also at the level of trade and import/export. In this paper, Egyptian food systems are described based on production, distribution and consumption statistics, key drivers and food system outcomes, i.e., health, sustainable land and water use, and inclusiveness. This is done for three coarsely defined Egyptian food systems: traditional, transitional and modern. A water footprint analysis then shows that for four MENA countries, differences occur between national green and blue water volumes, and the volumes imported through imported foods. Egypt has by far the largest blue water volume, but on a per capita basis, other countries are even more water limited. Then for Egypt, the approach is applied to the wheat and poultry sectors. They show opportunities but also limitations when it comes to projected increased water and food needs in the future. An intervention strategy is proposed that looks into strategies to get more out of the food system components production, distribution and consumption. On top of that food subsidy policies as well as smart water footprint application may lead to a set of combined policies that may lead to synergies between the three food system outcomes, paving the way to desirable food system transformation pathways.

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