Sustainable eating: Opportunities for nutrition professionals

Abstract

Increasing demand for food from a growing human population is leading to adverse environmental and health consequences. The emerging topical issue of sustainable eating and diets might offer new opportunities for the training of nutrition professionals. Ongoing research is uncovering synergies between how dietary patterns can meet both health and environmental goals. Yet this area is a challenge for the nutrition professions, as relevant education often involves politically driven, systems leadership‐style thinking, which is drawn from a less familiar evidence base than traditional nutritional sciences. As pressures mount to achieve sustainability agenda goals, new evidence appraisal and educational input are essential to support the potential role of nutrition professionals. This article appraises sustainable eating and diets, as well as considering the value of better education to be embedded more consistently within nutrition curricula and Continued Professional Development (CPD), to achieve sustainability literacy for nutrition professionals. The importance of stronger advocacy skills and collaborative leadership is also highlighted, as well as the need for more effective high‐level policy involvement. Recommendations for how nutrition professionals can be more effectively equipped for this emerging and dynamic area of professional practice are provided.

The Promotion of Sustainable Diets in the Healthcare System and Implications for Health Professionals: A Scoping Review

“…Six of the articles describe the necessity of including a system vision in the job responsibilities of health professionals in order to work towards sustainable food system advocacy [16,31,[42][43][44][45]. In line with that system vision, articles describe the development S1 contains the final article selection and a summary of the content analysis, including the main concepts, actions and approaches identified to work towards sustainable diet promotion in the healthcare system.…”

“…Encouraging sustainable diet intake and reducing food waste are part of the main solutions to reduce environmental detriment and to improve the health of the population [8,[30][31][32]. Applying the sustainability criteria implies understanding the linkages between diets, agricultural production practices, environmental degradation and social impacts, including health, economy and governance of our food systems [33].…”

A creative response to food issues during the Covid-19 lockdown: Singing over the anger

“…Fixing our broken food system "We're out of touch, much too much This food system has been broken for a long long time Shiver quiver Non-deliver This moment we are all unsure This moment we've been waiting for A fairer system that's worth fighting for Fighting for now" Our industrial food system is distorted by inequalities of access, failing the people most in need. More than enough food is generated, yet half the global population is malnourished and/or deficient in key micronutrients (see Pettinger, 2018). The implementation of creative solutions to address this is a pressing global challenge, especially in light of COVID-19 (Nabarro, 2020).…”

“…Such a model would liberate both the underrepresented and underserved, advocating with rather than for disadvantaged communities, as well as the elite, and the result will be more equitable and lasting solutions to complex social problems in the food system (Moore and Swisher, 2015). It would also present new opportunities for dietitians and nutrition professionals (Pettinger 2018;Carlsson et al, 2019).…”

Assessing Community Contributions to Sustainable Food Systems: Dietitians Leverage Practice, Process and Paradigms

“…There is therefore a gap in action, and this highlights a strategic focus area for dietetic practice. Namely, there is a need for resources that support RDs to apply SFS in public education and outreach activities, such as those listed in There are also opportunities to embed SFS concepts into RD education and training (Carino et al 2019;Pettinger 2018;Wegener 2018) that are likely to have positive feedback on RD SFS Literacy and therefore uptake of resources and support for public outreach activities.…”