Sustainable Diets and Health Flashcards
(35 cards)
What is sustainability?
Something that is capable of being maintained for a long period of time, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of people in the future to meet their needs
What is a Sustainable Diet?
Composed of foods that contribute to human health
Encourage the sustainability of food production
Why is it challenging to find solutions that are effective across the large and diverse range of producers that
characterize the agricultural sector?
More than 570 million farms produce in almost all the world’s climates and soils, each using vastly different agronomic methods
Diversity of farming
- Average farm size varies from 0.5 ha (Bangladesh) to 3000 ha (Australia)
- average mineral fertilizer use ranges from 1kg of nitrogen per hectare in Uganda to 300kg in China
- Four crops provide half of the worlds calories (more than 2 million distinct varieties recorded in seed vaults)
How much does our food chain contribute to carbon dioxide equivalents?
13.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2eq) equivalents, 26% of all anthropogenic emissions.
How much does nonfood agriculture/drivers of deforestation contribute to CO2 eq
2.8 billion metric tons of CO2eq (5%)
How does food production impact the environment?
Food production creates approx. 32% of global terrestrial acidification and approx. 78% of eutrophication.
How does the farm stage impact the environment?
The farm stage dominates: represents 61% of food’s GHG emissions (81% including deforestation), 79% of acidification, and 95% of eutrophication.
How is agriculture resource intensive?
- covers approx. 43% of the world’s ice and desert-free land. Of this land, approx. 87% is for food and 13% for biofuels and textile crops, or is allocated to nonfood uses such as wool and leather.
By 2050, how much will the population increase by and what is the effect?
- the world’s population will increase by two or three billion.
- Greatest increase in population in Asia and Africa.
- This will more likely double the demand for food.
How has diet impacted health in recent years
- Obesity
- Colon Cancer
- Diabetes
Obesity in recent years
Obesity has more than tripled in Europe over the last 20 years,
- caused an extra 1 million deaths and 12 million life-years of illness each year
Colon cancer related to diet
In USA incidence of colon cancer in people aged 20-34 years is predicted to increase by 90% over the next 15 years.
For people aged between 35-90 years, incidence of colon cancer will increase by 28%
Increase in cancer due to many factors but lifestyle and diet are major influencing factors.
Diabetes
Globally, the number of people with diabetes has risen from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.
Amongst adults over 18 years old, the incidence of diabetes has risen from 4.7% in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014.
Diabetes prevalence has been rising more rapidly in middle and low-income families
Correlation of red meat consumption and health
correlation between red meat consumption and higher incidence of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart problems, and more importantly, colon cancer.
How does red meat contribute to bad health?
- 2009 USA meta-analysis of 29 studies of meat consumption and colon cancer concluded that a high consumption of red meat increases risk by 28%, and a high consumption of processed meat increases risk by 20%.
- 2005 European meta-analysis of red meat consumption and colon cancer showed colorectal cancer risk was positively associated with intake of red and processed meat (highest [>160 g/day] versus lowest [<20 g/day] intake (95% CI = 0.96 to 1.88) and inversely associated with intake of fish (>80 g/day versus <10 g/day, (95 % CI = 0.54 to 0.88) but was not related to poultry intake.
Why is a sustaiable diet complex? What is the five big aspects to consider?
is complex due to all the issues to consider.
- nutrition,
- environment,
- economy and food supply,
- society and ethics
- other food related health.
How may climate change effect the global food availability?
Climate change reduces global food availability. Warmer temperature and changing rainfall patterns may reduce global food production by about 10% by 2030 and by more than 20% in 2050. New crop modelling results: +1 C -> 2 to 6 % yield loss in global wheat.
What is the negative aspects of eating more animal protein?
Animal-based foods are generally more resource-intensive and environmentally impactful to produce than plant-based foods.
Beef production – 20 x more land and 20 x more greenhouse gas emissions per unit of edible protein than plant-based protein sources (e.g. beans, peas and lentils). When it comes to resources use and environmental impacts, the type of food eaten matters as much, if not more, than how that food is produced.
Describe the 7 guidelines to sustainable food.
- Eating better, and less meat and dairy produce. Consuming more vegetables and fruit, grains and pulses, and smaller amount of animal products produced to high-welfare and environmental standards helps reduce health risks and greenhouse gases.
- Buying local, seasonal and environmentally friendly food such as organic from local farms. This benefits wildlife and the countryside, minimizes the energy used in food production, transport and storage, and helps protect the local economy.
- Choosing fair-trade-certified products. This scheme for food and drinks imported from poorer countries ensures a fair deal for disadvantages producers.
- Selecting fish only from sustainable sources, certified by the marine stewardship council (MSC). Future generations will be able to eat fish and seafood if we act now to protect our rivers and seas and the creatures living there.
- Getting the balance right. We need to cut down on suger, salt and fat.
- Growing our own, and buying the rest from a wide range of outlets. Fresh out of local markets, small shops, cafes and other retailers provides choice, variate and good livelihoods.
- Aiming to be waste-free. Reducing food waste (and packaging) saves the energy, effort and natural resources used to produce and dispose of it, as well as money.
What is the problem and solution to food acess and excess?
- produce enough food to feed everyone on the planet, but worldwide hunger u still a serious problem with 815 million people suffering from a shortage of food. AT the same time, 2.1 billion people are suffering from obesity or are overweight.
Solutions:
-Rethinking the use of natural resources, especially in the first stage of the agro-food supply chain(cultivation).
-Intervening in the supply chain and managing the volitallity of prices to consolidate fair working conditions in order to incentivise investment, pay farmers a decent wage and increase the opportunites for food access.
-Reducing the waste of food and resources throughout the agro-food supply chain. Promoting lifestyles which promotes better food sustainability and advocate healthy and nutritionally balanced diets.
-Investing in food education for rural populations in developing countries. AN increase in the access to primary education of 100% can improve food security by 20-24%.
What is the problem with how natural resources are used and what is the solution?
- feed a growing global population and yet 40% of the worlds cereal resources are used to feed livestock and produce fuel.
Solution
Improving the efficiency in the way natural resources are used. - Conserving, protecting and improving natural resources.
- Proposing agriculture methods which protect and improve equality and social wellbeing in rural areas.
- Focusing in the resillence (ability to recover to a previous optimal conditions) of people, communites and ecosystems.
- Implementing policies which are responsible and effective to boost the sustainability of agro-food systems.
What is the problem with food waste and what is the solution?
- enough food for everyone: don’t waste it. Every year,
-every year, waste 1/3 worlds production of food in the supply chain, during the processes of conservation, processing, distrubtion and consumption.
-medium and high-income countries food is to a high extent wasted , meaning that it is thrown away, even if it is still suitable for human consumption. - low-income countries food is mostly lost during the production-to-processing stages of the food supply chain.
- Producing food that not consumed leads to unnecessary CO2 emission in addition to loss of economic value of the food produced.
Solution - Agreeing to a shared definitions of food loss and waste which tackle its root causes and set out a hierarchy for the use of food, because identifying the nature of food loss and waste is essential for eradicating hunger around the world.
- Recognising the positive contribution of long-term cooperation and agreements on the food supply chain (between farmers, producers and distributors) in order to achieve better planning and forecasting of consumers demand.
- Providing the support necessary to launch awareness raising initiatives, including among professionals in the food sector.
Why do people in 1st world countries waste food and how do they do it?
- important reasons for food waste at the consumption level in rich countries is that people simply can afford to waste food.
- the amount of available food per person in retail stores and resturants has increased during the last decades in both the USA and the EU.
- Resturants serve buffets at fixed prices, which encourages people to fill their plates with more food than they can actually eat.
-Retail stores offer large packages and “getting one for free” bargains. Likewise, food manufactures produce oversized ready to eat meals.
Preventation: public awareness.
Education and political initiatives are possible starting points to change people’s attitudes towards the current massive food waste.
