Nutrition & Dietetics journal’s special issue on food systems and sustainability - our reflections
By Dr Margaret Murray and Dr Liza Barbour
On behalf of Monash Nutrition’s Planetary Health Working Group
Click here to access the Nutrition & Dietetics Special issue (published April 2023)
Dietitians Australia must be applauded for their commitment and investment in promoting planetary health over the past five years in particular. They’ve endorsed a Role Statement for Dietitians working in the area of food systems and environmental sustainability, prioritised planetary health as a critical issue of our time at recent national conferences, updated National Competency Standards to reflect this broader duty of care, developed a Position Statement on Healthy and Sustainable Diets and the latest issue of their journal (Nutrition & Dietetics) is dedicated to food systems and sustainability research.
The issue opens with an editorial from a trail-blazer in this area of dietetics practice, Professor Mark Lawrence from Deakin University. In his editorial, Prof. Lawrence demonstrates the magnitude of the climate crisis, and the two-way relationship between food consumption patterns and the sustainability of our food supply. “The overwhelming majority of nutrition and dietetic experts recognise that a ‘business as usual’ approach towards the structure and operation of food systems is not tenable. What is less clear is the ‘order’ of food system change that is necessary.” He goes on to justify that dietitians are well-placed to implement a strategic combination of all orders of food system change, from first order (adjustment/tweak/nudge) to second-order (reform) to a more ambitious third-order (transformation) system change. Prof. Lawrence summarises key findings from publications in this special issue before concluding that “With our nutrition science training, skills and understandings, I would argue dietitians can provide a ‘harmony of evidence-informed guidance’ to be lead change agents in promoting healthy and sustainable food systems.”
Monash Nutrition staff and PhD students led six of the fourteen papers. Dr Jorja Collins leads research looking to improve the sustainability of hospital food service systems, through developing an understanding of ways to improve food procurement, food waste management, and building capacity of staff working in hospital food service. Jorja, her current and recent PhD students (Dr Stefanie Carino and Nathan Cook) and several colleagues contributed the following articles to this special issue:
Food and food-related waste management strategies in hospital food services: A systematic review. By Nathan Cook, Denise Goodwin, Judi Porter, and Jorja Collins
The origins of hospital food: Where does it come from and what do staff, patients and suppliers think about local food? By Stefanie Carino, Georgia Misale, Meredith Egan, and Jorja Collins
Packaged hospital food appears safe and feasible to reuse. By Paul A. Lewandowski, Lisa A. Barker, Antony Howard, and Jorja Collins
Quantifying waste and its costs in hospital food services. By Jorja Collins and Judi Porter
‘It's a constant changing environment, and we're just playing catch up’: Hospital food services, food waste, and COVID-19. By Nathan Cook, Denise Goodwin, Jorja Collins, and Judi Porter
‘Sustainable Food Systems Dietitian’: A novel role to champion sustainable food in hospitals. By Stefanie Carino, Andrea Elliott, Claire Palermo, Stacey Holden, and Jorja Collins
Our key reflections from the issue:
When it comes to foodservice systems, such as those in hospitals, reducing the amount of food that is wasted is a key step in the right direction. Current strategies centre around composting and donating surplus food, and there are calls to prioritise waste management strategies that keep food within the food system rather than diverting it away from the food system and, for example, into landfill. Nutritional, environmental and financial benefits are gained through better management and reduction of food waste. These serve as important incentives for any foodservice looking to reduce its impact on the planet.
This issue touches on another area of the food system: the increased availability of alternative protein foods, such as plant-based ‘meats’. Plant-based and other alternative protein foods are described as playing a role in future food systems that promote both human and planetary health. However, there remain many unanswered questions about the nutrition and dietary pattern implications of these products, with particular concerns about adding to the already high intake of ultra-processed foods in our diets that are known to contribute to environmental degradation. Furthermore, any potential environmental benefits are not well researched or understood, largely due to the proprietary nature of company processes. While this product category has greatly expanded within the marketplace, this issue presents evidence that for now, we’re best to stick to more traditional plant foods such as wholegrains, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds.
It is clear that Nutrition and Dietetics professionals are important players in ensuring that food systems and dietary patterns can support human and planetary health today and into the future. This issue highlights that it is vital for new graduates entering the workplace to have the knowledge and skills to contribute to the global, systemic transformations required. Guidelines and frameworks exist to incorporate aspects of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into curricula, yet these are largely under utilised. This may be due to lack of awareness or access to these guidelines and frameworks among educators. McCormack et al in this issue refer to the book Education for Sustainable Development Goals by Marco Rieckmann (UNESCO Publishing, 2017) as an example of a resource that provides indicative learning outcomes and suggestions for topics and learning activities to embed sustainable development within education at multiple levels.
Spaces to watch:
National dietary guidelines - will they promote both human and planetary health outcomes?
Workforce capacity development - across all areas of nutrition and dietetic practice
Advocacy efforts for a National food systems and nutrition strategy
Future workforce preparedness - planetary health education for nutrition and dietetic students
Dietary models for human and planetary health
Dr Margaret Murray is Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at Swinburne University of Technology and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Monash University’s Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food. Her work is focussed on exploring how food and nutrition can support both human and planetary health and understanding how to effectively prepare future food professionals to create food system transformation. Access Margaret’s research profile here.
Dr Liza Barbour is a Senior Lecturer in Monash University’s Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food. Liza’s research explores effective approaches to promote a population-wide shift towards healthy and sustainable diets. She is working with nutrition and dietetics educators throughout Australia and overseas to ensure our future workforce is better equipped to transform food systems for better health, equity and environmental outcomes. Access Liza’s research profile here.
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