Sustainable Diets: Hairshirts or a better food future?

Lang, Tim

doi:10.1057/dev.2014.73

Cited by 29 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…There is an emerging food policy discourse on the relationship between nutrition and sustainability. Recent debates (Lang, 2014;Macdiarmid, 2013) have focussed on the concept of a 'sustainable diet' that 'promotes environmental and economic stability through low--impact and affordable, accessible foods, while supporting public health through adequate nutrition' (Johnston et al, 2014:420). To date, most of this work is driven by the environmental agenda, and the challenge is how to make food production more environmentally sustainable and resilient while paying greater attention to nutritional quality (Garnett, 2014).…”

Section: Integrating Social and Health Prioritiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balancing competing policy demands: the case of sustainable public sector food procurement

Andersson²,

Gourlay

et al. 2016

Journal of Cleaner Production

111

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This is the accepted version of the paper.This version of the publication may differ from the final published version. 2 Balancing competing policy demands: the case of sustainable public sector food procurement. Abstract A focus on market--based green growth strategies to pursue sustainability goals neglects the pursuit of understanding how human health is interwoven with the health of eco--systems to deliver sustainability goals. The article argues that clarifying the difference between green and sustainable public sector food procurement, with political continuity that supports and enables policymakers and practitioners to take an incremental approach to change, makes an important contribution to delivering more sustainable food systems and better public health nutrition. Five European case studies demonstrate the reality of devising and implementing innovative approaches to sustainable public sector food procurement and the effects of cultural and political framings. How legislation is enacted at the national level and interpreted at the local level is a key driver for sustainable procurement. Transition is dependent on political will and leadership and an infrastructure that can balance the economic, environmental and social drivers to effect change. The development of systems and indicators to measure change, reforms to EU directives on procurement, and the relationship between green growth strategies and sustainable diets are also discussed. The findings show the need to explore how consistent definitions for green public procurement and sustainable public procurement can be refined and standardized in order to support governments at all levels in reviewing and analysing their current food procurement strategies and practices to improve sustainability. Permanent repository linkKey words: Sustainable public procurement; green growth strategies; public health nutrition; sustainable diets; EU procurement regulation; urban and regional governments. IntroductionRecognising that food purchasing and catering services, including those in hospitals, care homes, schools, prisons and state companies etc., represent a significant part of public sector procurement budgets, the central premise of this article is that there is a need for clarity about what is meant by 'green' public sector food procurement and 'sustainable' public sector food procurement. The dominant economic paradigm has led to a growing focus on market--based green growth strategies to pursue sustainability goals and, it is argued, an ecological shift is required in order to further understanding of how human health is interwoven with the health of eco--systems, and to enable policymakers and practitioners to move towards creating more sustainable food systems and better public health nutrition.Public sector procurement, representing all of the goods and services purchased with public money, represents 13 to 20 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in OECD countries, including 17 percent of the EU's GDP (Evans et al, 2010), while in developing cou...

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Section: Integrating Social and Health Prioritiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Balancing competing policy demands: the case of sustainable public sector food procurement

Andersson²,

Gourlay

et al. 2016

Journal of Cleaner Production

111

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Adding to this complexity, agri-food systems are also highly diverse and are subject to different practices, priorities and politics across the world. Whilst recent scholarship in richer countries in Europe has focussed, for example, on reducing/ redistributing food waste 21 or changing diets 22,23 , studies in sub-Saharan Africa have often remained centred around yield increases and food security 24 . Changing food system dynamics are increasingly of interest in emerging economies such as China 25 and within a globally-interconnected system, trade also finds a central role in academic debates.…”

Section: Transformations To Sustainability In Food and Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Co-design with aligned and non-aligned knowledge partners: implications for research and coproduction of sustainable food systems

Marín¹,

Ely

Zwanenberg³

2016

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

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We discuss two different strategies to initiate a process of identifying a focused sustainability challenge, and co-defining and co-designing alternative pathways to more sustainable food systems.. One strategy was based on working with a relatively closely aligned network of private sector, civil society and academic organisations, whilst the other involved working with a more plural, nonaligned group, ranging from representatives of agricultural social movements, through to the domestic seed industry and government officials, to academic agronomists. This paper reflects on the distinct benefits and challenges involved in each strategy Highlights-The literature on co-design in transdisciplinary food systems research emphasises the need to take account of diverse actors´ priorities, circumstances and understandings to create robust knowledge -We describe two strategies (one based on actors with shared normative values, interests and problem definitions and one based on competing views) for co-design -We reflect on the trade-offs between appreciation of complexity and ease of managing the collaborative process involved in each strategy

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“…In their review of the sustainable diet literature, Reynolds et al (2014) concluded that the intake of fish should be reduced to reduce the environmental effects of the global diet. Arguments to limit seafood consumption were based on concern that marine fish populations are fully or overexploited Lang, 2014;Riley & Buttriss, 2011;Westhoek et al, 2011) and that aquaculture expansion relies largely on fishmeal, which further depletes fish stocks (Selvey & Carey, 2013).…”

Section: Seafood Sustainability Conclusion-discussion Papers and Qmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dietary recommendations to eat more fish are (potentially) unsustainable , Horgan et al (2016), Lang (2014), Merrigan et al (2015), Reynolds et al (2014), Riley and Buttriss (2011), Selvey and Carey (2013), Westhoek et al (2011) Consuming seafood presented as a conflict between health and environmental sustainability Alsaffar (2015), , Macdiarmid (2013), Macdiarmid et al (2012), Mitchell (2011), Buttriss (2011), van Dooren et al (2014) Express concern over environmental/biotic impacts of fishing Buttriss and Riley (2013), Carlsson-Kanyama and González (2009), , Garnett (2011, Heller et al (2013), Mitchell (2011), Nijdam et al (2012, Ruini et al (2015), Tukker et al (2011), Tyszler et al (2015 Advocate consumption of sustainable wild-capture seafood Buttriss and Riley (2013), , Macdiarmid (2013), Reynolds et al (2014), Buttriss (2011), Tyszler et al (2015) No scope for increased production/consumption Fazeni andSteinmüller (2011), Jalava et al (2014), Stehfest et al (2009) Use of wild-capture fish for aquafeed should be reduced Reynolds et al (2014), Selvey and Carey (2013), Westhoek et al (2011) Use of crops for aquafeed will increase footprint of seafood Gephart et al (2016), Westhoek et al (2011) T A B L E 2 Themes for seafood identified in the sustainable diets literature | 613…”

Section: Theme Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Eating fish is often presented as a dilemma given that most fished stocks are either fully or over-exploited (Buttriss & Riley, 2013;Fazeni & Steinmüller, 2011;Jalava et al, 2014;Lang, 2014;Riley & Buttriss, 2011;Selvey & Carey, 2013;Westhoek et al, 2011). It is clear that the opportunities for increasing production in fully fished stocks are limited; however, the predicted growth in seafood production is anticipated to come from aquaculture and not wild-capture fisheries (OECD-FAO, 2015).…”

Section: Opportunities For Including Wild-capture Seafood In Futurementioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the inclusion of seafood in the sustainable diet literature

et al. 2017

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The literature on sustainable diets is broad in its scope, and application yet is consistently supportive of a move away from animal‐based diets towards more plant‐based diets. The positioning of seafood within the sustainable diet literature is less clear. A literature review was conducted to examine how the environmental impacts of seafood consumption are assessed and what conclusions are being drawn about the inclusion of seafood in a sustainable diet. Seafood is an essential part of the global food system but is not adequately addressed in most of the sustainable diet literature. Aquaculture, the world's fastest growing food sector, was considered by very few papers. Seafood consumption was commonly presented as a dilemma due to the perceived trade‐offs between positive health outcomes from eating seafood and concerns of overfishing. A number of studies included seafood as part of their sustainable diet scenario, or as part of a diet that had lower impacts than current consumption. Most of the indicators used were biophysical, with a strong focus on greenhouse gas emissions, and very few studies addressed biological or ecological impacts. The assessment of seafood was limited in many studies due to relevant data sets not being incorporated into the models used. Where they were used, data sources and methodological choices were often not stated thereby limiting the transparency of many studies. Both farmed and wild‐capture production methods need to be integrated into research on the impacts of diets and future food scenarios to better understand and promote the benefits of sustainable diets.

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Sustainable Diets: Hairshirts or a better food future?

Cited by 29 publications

References 32 publications

Balancing competing policy demands: the case of sustainable public sector food procurement

Balancing competing policy demands: the case of sustainable public sector food procurement

Co-design with aligned and non-aligned knowledge partners: implications for research and coproduction of sustainable food systems

Assessing the inclusion of seafood in the sustainable diet literature

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