Sustainability, Equity, and Planetary Health: What's at Stake and What Will It Take?

Summary

Anna Lartey discusses sustainable food systems and the need for transformation. She emphasizes the importance of diverse, healthy diets, the influence of food environments on consumer choices, and the negative impacts of current food systems on health and the environment. Lartey highlights the triple burden of malnutrition, the significant contribution of food systems to climate change, and the inequity within the food system. She calls for a global shift towards systems that ensure safe, nutritious diets, equity, environmental sustainability, and resilience.

Takeaways

• 🌱 Sustainable food systems and food systems transformation have gained global attention due to their complexity and impact on health and the environment.
• 🍎 A healthy diet according to the WHO should be diverse, low in ultra-processed foods, and safe from foodborne illnesses.
• 🌾 Non-nutrient components in food, especially from plants, are linked to lower disease risk and improved health.
• 🏞️ Food environment, influenced by availability, accessibility, and convenience, determines individual diet quality.
• 🛒 The choices consumers make are influenced by the food environment, impacting their nutritional status and health.
• 🌍 Food systems include production, processing, distribution, and consumption, and they significantly affect the food environment and health.
• 🌿 The current food systems contribute to the triple burden of malnutrition, including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, and obesity.
• ⚖️ Food systems are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and are linked to water body pollution.
• 🌎 There is inequity in food systems, with many going hungry despite enough food production, and smallholder farmers living in poverty.
• 🔗 Food systems are controlled by a few companies, leading to power imbalances and less influence for the majority of food producers and consumers.
• 🛡️ Food systems are not resilient, as shown by COVID-19 disruptions, and there's a need for transformation to ensure safety, equity, environmental sustainability, and resilience.

Q & A

What is Anna Lartey's professional background?

Anna Lartey is an adjunct professor of Nutrition at the University of Ghana and a former director of Nutrition at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

What is the significance of food systems in global discussions?

Food systems have gained global attention over the past decade due to their complexity and their impact on health, the environment, and social equity.

What constitutes a healthy diet according to the World Health Organization?

A healthy diet is adequate in foods for a healthy life, diverse with a variety of foods, low in ultra-processed foods, and safe from foodborne illnesses.

How does a diet that only meets calorie needs affect long-term health?

A diet that only meets calorie needs but lacks essential nutrients and nonnutrient components, particularly from plants, is not conducive to long-term health and well-being.

What role does the food environment play in determining diet quality?

The food environment, determined by availability, accessibility, and convenience, influences the choices consumers make and thus impacts their diet quality and nutritional status.

How does the food systems level impact the food environment and consumer choices?

Food systems determine the types of food produced and the processes they go through, which in turn affects the food environment and the food available to consumers.

What is the triple burden of malnutrition?

The triple burden of malnutrition includes undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight, and obesity, often experienced by populations due to the availability and consumption of cheap, highly processed, nutrient-poor foods.

How do food systems contribute to climate change and environmental pollution?

Food systems account for up to 34% of greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to 78% of water body pollution, driving climate change and environmental degradation.

What are the inequities present in food systems?

Food systems are fraught with inequity, such as over 700 million people going to bed hungry despite enough food production, and 3 billion people unable to afford a healthy diet.

What is the concern regarding the control of food systems by a few companies?

The concern is that the control of food systems by a few companies can lead to power imbalances, with most food producers and consumers having little influence over the system.

What does a resilient food system mean?

A resilient food system can withstand and recover from disruptions and shocks, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which exposed the fragility of current food systems.

What are the objectives of the United Nations Food System Summit?

The United Nations Food System Summit called for a transformation to achieve safe and nutritious diets, ensure equity, environmental sustainability, and resilience to shocks and crises.

What is needed to achieve food systems transformation?

To achieve food systems transformation, all parts of the food systems must work together under coherent policies, with strong political will, local capacity building, and context-specific transformation pathways.