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Sustainability
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Transitioning toward a Healthy, Secure, and Sustainable Food System
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Transitioning toward a Healthy, Secure, and Sustainable Food System

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Food".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2022) | Viewed by 14846

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rajshri Roy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW 2050, Australia
Interests: public health nutrition and obesity; food environment interventions; digital and social media; dietary behavior change; nutritional health promotion; translational research
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Joya Kemper

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Marketing, Business School, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Interests: sustainable consumption; behaviour change; social marketing; dietary behaviour change; public health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

A sustainable diet is one that is generally healthful and has a low impact on the environment and food supply. The United Nations estimates the world’s population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050. Food security and sustainability is imperative to feed the growing population and minimise the effects of climate change. Achieving a healthy and sustainable food system is an urgent matter that depends on collaborative efforts from governments, the private and public sectors, as well as individuals. There is a need for research that supports socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable food systems that promote health of individuals, communities, and the natural environment. Thus, we seek research that addresses food system change at all levels, including micro (i.e., individuals), meso (i.e., community), and macro (i.e., regulation, public policy, food environments).

A sustainable food system supports food security. Food and nutrition security is a cornerstone of sustainable diets and food consumption patterns. Therefore, research looking at changes in both food consumption and food production is important to ensure more sustainable food systems and to achieve food and nutrition security. Food insecurity has been associated with a lower nutrient intake as well as a lower intake of fruits and vegetables. However, little is known about the association of food insecurity and dietary behaviours, including food choices and preparation methods. Further qualitative and quantitative research is needed on the relationship between diet and food insecurity. The current economic and heath crisis due to COVID-19 has impacted diet quality and food security. This raises concerns about long term impacts on access to and affordability of nutrient-rich, healthy diets and their health implications. There is need for further research to identify vulnerable groups and measure how interventions are successful in protecting them.

We welcome the submission of original research articles, short communications, and reviews.

Dr. Rajshri Roy
Dr. Joya Kemper
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • vegetables
  • fruit
  • climate change
  • diet, healthy
  • public sector
  • food insecurity
  • food security
  • COVID-19
  • diet
  • food supply
  • nutritional status
  • nutrients
  • health promotion
  • eating
  • sustainability

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 839 KiB  
Article
Assessing the Health and Environmental Benefits of a New Zealand Diet Optimised for Health and Climate Protection
by Christine Cleghorn, Nhung Nghiem and Cliona Ni Mhurchu
Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 13900; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142113900 - 26 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2947
Abstract
Population diets have impacts on both human and planetary health. This research aims to optimise a New Zealand (NZ) version of the EAT-Lancet diet and to model the impact of this diet on population health if it was adopted in NZ. The optimisation [...] Read more.
Population diets have impacts on both human and planetary health. This research aims to optimise a New Zealand (NZ) version of the EAT-Lancet diet and to model the impact of this diet on population health if it was adopted in NZ. The optimisation methods used mathematical equations in Excel to ensure: population diets met the nutritional recommendations; diet-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions did not exceed the NZ GHG boundary; and diet costs did not exceed baseline costs of the average diet. The EAT-Lancet diet was also directly mapped onto the NZ adult nutrition survey food groups, as another estimate of a NZ EAT-Lancet diet. Both diets were modelled using a DIET multi-state life-table model to estimate lifetime impacts on quality adjusted life years (QALYs), ethnic health inequities and health system costs. The optimised diet differed greatly from baseline intake with large amounts of fruits and vegetables, some fish but no beef, lamb, pork or poultry. Modelling nationwide adoption of the NZ EAT-Lancet diets generated large health savings (approximately 1.4 million QALYs), and health system cost savings (around NZD 20 billion). A healthy, climate-friendly, cost-neutral diet is possible for NZ and, if adopted, could provide large health gain, cost savings and reductions in ethnic health inequities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transitioning toward a Healthy, Secure, and Sustainable Food System)
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18 pages, 1167 KiB  
Article
A Tale of Two Urgent Food System Challenges: Comparative Analysis of Approaches to Reduce High-Meat Diets and Wasted Food as Covered in U.S. Newspapers
by Jillian P. Fry, Brittany Stodden, Andrea M. Brace and Linnea I. Laestadius
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12083; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912083 - 24 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 6951
Abstract
To improve food system sustainability, it is critical to reduce food loss and waste (FLW) and shift away from high-meat diets. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of 238 newspaper articles (2018–2020) to compare media framing and stakeholder involvement. For both issues, newspaper [...] Read more.
To improve food system sustainability, it is critical to reduce food loss and waste (FLW) and shift away from high-meat diets. We conducted a qualitative content analysis of 238 newspaper articles (2018–2020) to compare media framing and stakeholder involvement. For both issues, newspaper coverage often called for individual-level behavior change. Coverage of how consumers can reduce FLW was more detailed compared to diet change and portrayed numerous organizations and government agencies working in partnerships to reduce FLW. Coverage of diet change efforts portrayed substantial disagreement, including legislative efforts to restrict labeling of alternative meat and dairy products. Journalists covering new evidence on the need to shift diets for sustainability often quoted both the lead researcher and an opponent with ties to the livestock industry. Inclusion of “both sides” was similar to previous media coverage that presented climate change as an open debate for years. Strong scientific evidence shows the need to address both FLW and diet shifts to improve interconnected environmental and human health outcomes, and our analysis of media coverage shows important differences regarding how these two issues are covered in the media and approached by stakeholders in the U.S. These results can inform communication with consumers, journalists, and policymakers to more effectively translate evidence into solutions, especially at the organizational and policy levels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transitioning toward a Healthy, Secure, and Sustainable Food System)
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23 pages, 3832 KiB  
Article
Social Influence and Meat-Eating Behaviour
by Jiaqi Ge, Andrea Scalco and Tony Craig
Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7935; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137935 - 29 Jun 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4259
Abstract
In recent years, interest in non-meat diets has been growing at an exponential rate in many countries. There is a wide consensus now that increased meat consumption is linked to higher health risks and environmental impact. Yet humans are social animals. Even the [...] Read more.
In recent years, interest in non-meat diets has been growing at an exponential rate in many countries. There is a wide consensus now that increased meat consumption is linked to higher health risks and environmental impact. Yet humans are social animals. Even the very personal decision of whether to eat meat or not is influenced by others around them. Using data from the British Social Attitude Survey, we develop an agent-based model to study the effect of social influence on the spread of meat-eating behaviour in the British population. We find that social influence is crucial in determining the spread of different meat-eating behaviours. According to the model, in order to bring about large-scale changes in meat-eating behaviours at the national level, people need to (1) have a strong openness to influences from others who have different meat-eating behaviour and (2) have a weak tendency to reinforce their current meat-eating behaviour after observing others in their own social group sharing the same behaviour. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transitioning toward a Healthy, Secure, and Sustainable Food System)
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