Employment and income implications of transitions towards more sustainable global diets

The effect of global diet shifts on human health, the natural environment, and the financial cost of obtaining food has been extensively quantified. The current study complements these quantifications by examining the economy-wide consequences of global diet shifts. We used a computable general equilibrium model to quantify the changes in employment and income in all geographic regions of the globe in the year 2050 under a global shift towards more sustainable human diets. These more sustainable diets are lower in livestock-derived foods, higher in fruit and vegetables, and lower in refined sugar than diets under the current trajectory for food demand out to the year 2050. Our results show that transitioning towards more sustainable diets at the global scale in sub-Saharan Africa will decrease employment in the livestock sector and increase employment in the crop sector, with an overall reallocation of labor from the industry and services sectors to the agriculture sector. West Africa was the region of the globe that encountered the greatest decline in income of 14% as a result of the global diet shift, driven by the reallocation of labor into the lower value-added agriculture sector and driven by West Africa’s high share of total household expenditure spent on food. These findings have important implications for understanding trade-offs and developing strategies to equitably improve livelihoods within the broader context of food system transformation.

Affordability of Heathy, Equitable and More Sustainable Diets in Low-Income Households in Brisbane before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased food insecurity worldwide, yet there has been limited assessment of shifts in the cost and affordability of healthy, equitable and sustainable diets. This study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and income supplements provided by the Australian government on diet cost and affordability for low-income households in an Australian urban area. The Healthy Diets ASAP method protocol was applied to assess the cost and cost differential of current and recommended diets before (in 2019) and during the COVID-19 pandemic (late 2020) for households with a minimum-wage and welfare-only disposable household income, by area of socioeconomic disadvantage, in Greater Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Data were collected between August and October, 2020, from 78 food outlets and compared with data collected in the same locations between May and October, 2019, in an earlier study. The price of most healthy food groups increased significantly during the pandemic—with the exception of vegetables and legumes, which decreased. Conversely, the price of discretionary foods and drinks did not increase during the pandemic. The cost of the current and recommended diets significantly increased throughout this period, but the latter continued to be less expensive than the former. Due to income supplements provided between May and September 2020, the affordability of the recommended diet improved greatly, by 27% and 42%, for households with minimum-wage and welfare-only disposable household income, respectively. This improvement in the affordability of the recommended diet highlights the need to permanently increase welfare support for low-income families to ensure food security.

Variations in greenhouse gas emissions of individual diets: Associations between the greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient intake in the United Kingdom

Background Food production accounts for 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Less environmentally sustainable diets are also often more processed, energy-dense and nutrient-poor. To date, the environmental impact of diets have mostly been based on a limited number of broad food groups. Objectives We link GHG emissions to over 3000 foods, assessing associations between individuals’ GHG emissions, their nutrient requirements and their demographic characteristics. We also identify additional information required in dietary assessment to generate more accurate environmental impact data for individual-level diets. Methods GHG emissions of individual foods, including process stages prior to retail, were added to the UK Composition Of Foods Integrated Dataset (COFID) composition tables and linked to automated online dietary assessment for 212 adults over three 24-hour periods. Variations in GHG emissions were explored by dietary pattern, demographic characteristics and World Health Organization Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNIs). Results GHG emissions estimates were linked to 98% (n = 3233) of food items. Meat explained 32% of diet-related GHG emissions; 15% from drinks; 14% from dairy; and 8% from cakes, biscuits and confectionery. Non-vegetarian diets had GHG emissions 59% (95% CI 18%, 115%) higher than vegetarian. Men had 41% (20%, 64%) higher GHG emissions than women. Individuals meeting RNIs for saturated fats, carbohydrates and sodium had lower GHG emissions compared to those exceeding the RNI. Discussion Policies encouraging sustainable diets should focus on plant-based diets. Substituting tea, coffee and alcohol with more sustainable alternatives, whilst reducing less nutritious sweet snacks, presents further opportunities. Healthier diets had lower GHG emissions, demonstrating consistency between planetary and personal health. Further detail could be gained from incorporating brand, production methods, post-retail emissions, country of origin, and additional environmental impact indicators.

Examining the trade-offs of palm oil production and consumption from a sustainable diets perspective: lessons learned from Myanmar

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the trade-offs related to the production and consumption of palm oil in Myanmar from a sustainable diets perspective. Design: We used an enhanced value chain analysis approach that included semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders; market analyses to assess edible oils in markets and focus groups as well as surveys with consumers to ascertain their perceptions and practices related to edible oils. Setting: Four settings in Myanmar (upper income urban; lower income urban; middle-income urban; lower income rural). Participants: Key stakeholders (n 12) from government, trade bodies and civil society organisations were included in the interviews. Women from each of the regions participated in four focus groups (n 32), and a convenience sample of male and female consumers participated in the surveys (n 362). Results: We found mistrust of the oil sector overall. Poor production practices, leading to low yields, limit the economic viability of oil palm production in Myanmar and contribute to negative environmental (e.g. deforestation) and social outcomes (e.g. land conflicts). Consumers demonstrated low preferences for palm oil as compared with traditional oils from a taste, health and transparency perspective; however, they indicated that its relative low cost led to its purchase over other oils. Conclusions: The Burmese example suggests that there may be limited benefits, and significant costs, of investing in palm oil production in regions where there are coordinating disincentives from a sustainable diets perspective. However, if oil palm cultivation is to continue, there are opportunities to improve its economic viability and environmental sustainability.

The role of seafood in sustainable diets

Recent discussions of healthy and sustainable diets encourage increased consumption of plants and decreased consumption of animal-source foods for both human and environmental health. Seafood is often peripheral in these discussions. This paper examines the relative environmental costs of sourcing key nutrients from different kinds of seafood, other animal-source foods, and a range of plant-based foods. We linked a nutrient richness index for different foods to life cycle assessments of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the production of these foods to evaluate nutritional benefits relative to this key indicator of environmental impacts. The lowest GHG emissions to meet average nutrient requirement values were found in grains, tubers, roots, seeds, wild-caught small pelagic fish, and farmed bivalve shellfish. The highest GHG emissions per nutrient supply are in beef, pork, wild-caught prawns, farmed catfish, tilapia and farmed crustaceans. Among animal-source foods, some fish and shellfish have GHG emissions at least as low as plants and merit inclusion in food systems policymaking for their potential to support a healthy, sustainable diet. However, other aquatic species and production methods deliver nutrition to diets at environmental costs at least as high as land-based meat production. It is important to disaggregate seafood by species and production method in ‘planetary health diet’ advice.

Culturally appropriate shifts in staple grain consumption can improve multiple sustainability outcomes

Diets exercise great influence over both human and environmental health. While numerous efforts have sought to define and identify sustainable diets, there remains a poor understanding of the extent to which such shifts are feasible when taking into account local dietary preferences. Accounting for 40% of dietary calories and 46% of global cropland, cereals offer an important food group by which culturally appropriate dietary shifts may achieve large sustainability benefits. Here we combine country-specific information on dietary cereal supply with nutrient content values, CO2 nutrient penalties, and environmental footprints to quantify the outcomes of adopting two feasible dietary shifts – maximizing the share of C4 cereals (e.g., maize, millet, sorghum) based on historical shares and increasing the share of whole grains. Our results show that increasing the share of whole grains can increase nutrient supply (+7% protein, +37% iron, +42% zinc) and overcome the nutrient-depleting effects of elevated CO2 (eCO2) and that maximizing the share of C4 cereals can substantial reduce environmental burden (-12% GHG emissions, -11% blue water demand), particularly in Africa and the Middle East. We also find that a combination of the two strategies would likely produce strong co-benefits between increased nutrient supply and reduced environmental impacts with mixed outcomes for offsetting the effects of eCO2. Such simultaneously improvements are particularly important for food insecure regions such as West Africa and Southeast Asia. These findings demonstrate important opportunities to identify sustainable diets that incorporate local preferences and cultural acceptability. Such considerations are essential when developing demand-side solutions to achieve more sustainable food systems.

Challenges to Operationalizing Sustainable Diets: Perspectives From Kenya and Vietnam

Despite the urgent need for comprehensive food systems strategies, the challenge lies in defining feasible, evidence-based intervention points. Too little is known about issues food systems decision-makers and other change agents are running up against, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where food systems are the most vulnerable to a growing number of intertwined crises. We look at this question through the lens of sustainable diets, a growing area of research and a concept that is the basis of over 30 sets of national guidelines that aim to simultaneously address health, economic and environmental dimensions of food systems. Based on 114 interviews carried out in Kenya and Vietnam, we examine the extent to which food systems researchers, business and project managers and policy actors are attempting to intervene in food systems in ways that mirror the concept of sustainable diets. We also consider how they are managing two key ingredients that are critical to systems-change—interdisciplinary data and cross-sector collaboration. Most stakeholders we interviewed were carrying out systems-based projects, oriented—even if not explicitly—around many of the sustainable diets domains: agriculture, livelihoods, food security/access/nutrition and/or environment. The majority faced formidable challenges with both data and collaborations, however, showing why it can be so difficult to move from normative ideals like “sustainable diets” to practical realities, regardless of the context. To support more comprehensive food systems policies and interventions, our findings suggest the need for strategies that can improve the collection and accessibility of actionable, cross-sector data, and mechanisms to overcome institutional barriers that limit collaboration.