Eating for human and planetary health involves more than putting the right foods on our plate
Transformation of our food system is critical to nourish future generations within planetary boundaries. The relationship between our food system and climate change is bi-directional. Increasing temperatures, drought and salinity are disrupting the supply of fresh, healthy food. At the same time, by-products from our food system such as green-house gas emissions, food waste and land and water usage are catalysing climate change.
While some countries, such as the UK and Denmark, are leading action to mitigate the effects of climate change, others are slow on the uptake. The Medical Journal of Australia’s Lancet Countdown report (1) advised that Australians are already dying due to the health impacts of climate change (e.g. climate-fuelled weather events, food, water and vector-borne pathogens and air pollution). Our Federal Government’s refusal to join State and Territory leaders in committing to a net-zero emissions target by 2050 is forcing citizens to take matters into their own hands (2).
We as individuals can take action to improve planetary health and as described in this research, contribute to the transformation of our food system.
Liza Barbour, a PhD candidate and Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian from Monash University looked to the global leaders in sustainable development - the United Nations - to identify diet-related practices which optimise both human and planetary health. These recommendations on how to source food, what to eat, and how to consume food can inform the decisions of citizens and policy-makers to contribute to food system transformation.
Individuals, and ultimately populations, can adopt these diet-related practices to trigger systemic change across the whole food supply chain from farm to fork and beyond. To achieve this population-wide shift we must advocate for public policy to ensure that these desirable practices become the easiest way to interact with food. This infographic presents the results of an analysis to define these desired healthy and sustainable diet-related practices.
To demonstrate how these recommendations can take effect in everyday life, let’s look at a few examples:
- Adopt food waste minimisation practices: shorten the supply chain by sourcing fresh, locally available food to prolong shelf-life, minimise intake of processed foods which are often over-packaged and plan meals and snacks to minimise leftover ingredients.
- Increase intake of plant-based foods: prioritise fruits and vegetables that have been grown using sustainable agricultural practices, are within season and are grown locally to avoid any unnecessary environmental burden caused by excessive water, land or chemical use and transportation.
- Consume less animal-derived foods: avoid replacing these with ultra-processed meat-free protein substitutes as these usually involve excessive manufacturing and packaging which use greater amounts of environmental resources than whole foods.
- Avoid the overconsumption of food: the resources required to produce, package, transport, sell and consume food beyond an individual’s nutritional requirement represent avoidable environmental burden.
‘Think global and act local’ has never rang more true. We have a growing population of individuals who are dependent on mother nature as a life support system - we all have a role to play in creating the food system of our future.
More information
Barbour, L.R., Woods, J.L. and Brimblecombe, J.K. (2020), Translating evidence into policy action: which diet‐related practices are essential to achieve healthy and sustainable food system transformation?. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-6405.13050
Liza Barbour is a PhD Candidate and Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian, in Monash University’s Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food. Her current research is exploring the role of local governments in promoting the uptake of healthy and sustainable diet-related practices. Other research interests include capacity building for current and future nutritionists and dietitians to create food systems which promote health, equity and environmental sustainability. Access Liza’s research profile here.
Liza Barbour is the recipient of a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Post-Graduate Scholarship. The opinions contained in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of the NHMRC. You can follow Liza on Twitter via @Liza_R_Barbour
Dr Julie Woods is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health Nutrition at Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN). Her research interests include mapping the changing food supply, the application of food classification schemes for policy outcomes and the role of food processing in determining health outcomes. Access Julie’s research profile here. You can follow Julie on Twitter via @jwoods958
Associate Professor Julie Brimblecombe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University. Her research interests include Indigenous food systems, real-world systems approaches to improving population level nutrition, addressing social inequities in food access, modifying food environments to support healthier food choices, capacity building for evidence informed decision-making and capacity building in research conduct. Access Julie’s research profile here. You can follow Julie on Twitter via @FoodForAllJulie
Stay connected with Monash Nutrition on Twitter (@MonashNutrition) and Facebook (@MonashNutrition).
References
- Watts, Nick et al. (2020) The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: responding to converging crises. The Lancet. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32290-X
- Australia is lagging on climate action and inequality, but the pandemic offers a chance to do better
