Two dilemmas: One solution

And how can we increase food production without using more land or creating more harmful emissions?

When researchers looked for ways to provide adequate nutrition, reduce health risks, and help sustain the limited resources of our planet, they found one effective strategy that could address these changes: plant-based diets, together with reduced food waste, adequate caloric intakes and the usage of more efficient agricultural practices.

Adopting a more plant-based diet

It turns out that many healthy choices can be sustainable, and many sustainable choices can be compatible with a balanced diet, too.

So by looking for food options that share that common ground, we can make progress on both issues while meeting changing customer demands to keep your business strong.

Let’s take a look at how we define “healthy” and “sustainable” foods and where those areas can overlap.

What is a healthy diet?¹

The answer can vary depending on a person’s age, gender, lifestyle, physical activity, cultural context, dietary customs and local availability.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a healthy diet includes:

• A variety of plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains)
• 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day
• Limited intake of free sugars
• Favouring unsaturated fats over saturated fats
• Less than 5g of salt per day

What is a sustainable diet? ²

• Eating sustainably shifts the focus from the health of the individual to the health of the planet we share.
• According to Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), sustainable diets are:
• Protective and respectful of biodiversity and ecosystems
• Culturally acceptable; accessible, economically fair and affordable
• Nutritionally adequate
• Safe and healthy
• Designed to optimize natural and human resources

Put it all together.

Is it really possible to check all of those boxes at once?

Yes! According to WHO and FAO, healthy and sustainable diets promote all dimensions of people’s health and wellbeing, have low environmental pressure and impact, and are accessible, affordable, safe, equitable and culturally acceptable.³

They include:

• A diverse range of foods (including a base of minimally processed tubers and whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables and unsalted seeds and nuts)
• A balance between energy intake and energy needs
• Limiting meat and fish (if eaten) to small quantities
• Very limited consumption of foods high in fat, sugar or salt
• Consuming dairy products (if eaten) in moderation
• Drinking water as the preferred beverage⁴

Read the full Nutripro Magazine

Sources:

¹ World Health Organization. Healthy Diets: Key facts. 2020.

² Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Sustainable diets and biodiversity: Directions and solutions for policy, research and action. 2010.

³ FAO and WHO. Sustainable healthy diets – Guiding principles. 2019.

⁴ FAO. Plates, pyramids, planet: Developments in national healthy and sustainable dietary guidelines: a state of play assessment.