Global food systems face the challenge of providing healthy and adequate nutrition through sustainable means, which is exacerbated by climate change and increasing protein demand by the world's growing population. Recent advances in novel food production technologies demonstrate potential solutions for improving the sustainability of food systems. Yet, diet level comparisons are heretofore lacking and are needed to fully understand the environmental impacts of incorporating novel foods in diets. Here we estimate the potential of reducing global warming potential, water use, and land use by replacing animal source foods with novel or plant-based foods in European diets. Using a linear programming model, we optimized omnivore, vegan, and novel food diets for minimum environmental impacts with nutrition and feasible consumption constraints. Replacing animal source foods in current diets with novel foods reduced all environmental impacts by over 80% and still met nutrition and feasible consumption constraints. Mazac et al. 2022 Nature Food | 2Burgeoning food demand from growing and urbanizing populations, paralleled with increases in consumption of animal source foods (ASF), drive an ever-larger pressure from food systems on the environment 1,2 . While causing one third of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) globally 3 , agriculture is also the leading contributor of the earth system surpassing planetary boundaries in biodiversity loss and nutrient flows 2 . Concurrently, the double burden of malnutrition, associated with poor/insufficient diets, further indicates food systems are failing to meet health needs 4 . Such recent research has catalyzed broad conclusions which urgently compel changes toward sustainable diets [5][6][7] .Many products, here termed 'novel/future foods' (NFFs), have the potential to reduce environmental impacts of diets while meeting essential nutritional needs in broader populations 8 . Novel foods are those produced from new production technologies or are under novel regulatory frameworks such as cell-culturing technologies-cultured meat, eggs, milk, plants, algae, bacteria, and fungi 9 . Future foods are those for which our production capacity has potential to scale up and/or increase in consumption due to emerging climate change mitigation concerns such as insects and spirulina; some foods may overlap in both novel/future categories such as mussels (Mytilus spp.) or chlorella (Chlorella vulgaris) produced with novel technologies 8 . Such NFFs may provide nutritious alternatives to ASF while meeting multiple sustainability goals 8,9 . Compared to currently available plant-based protein-rich (PBPR) options like legumes, pulses, and grains, NFFs can have a more complete array of essential nutrients such as protein, calcium, vitamin B-12, and omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids and are more land-and water-efficient than current ASF 8 . Additionally, alternative fortified food products can be developed but the taste/texture of meat is a key driver in the development of
This article examines how future diets could reduce the environmental impacts of food systems, and thus, enable movement into the post-Anthropocene. Such non-anthropocentric diets are proposed to address global food systems challenges inherent in the current geological epoch known as the Anthropocene-a period when human activity is the dominant cause of environmental change. Using non-anthropocentric indigenous worldviews and object-oriented ecosophy, the article discusses changes in ontologies around diets to consider choices made in the present for sustainable future food systems. This article conceptually addresses, how can pre-Anthropocene ontologies guide an exit of current approaches to diets? Considering temporality, what post-Anthropocene ontologies are possible in future diets for sustainable food systems? Through the ontological positions defining three distinct temporalities, considerations for guiding future diets in(to) the post-Anthropocene are proposed. Indigenous ontologies are presented as pre-Anthropocene examples that depict humans and non-humans in relational diets. Underlying Anthropocene ontologies define current unsustainable diets. These ontologies are described to present the context for the food systems challenges this article aims to address. A post-Anthropocene illustration then employs object-oriented ecosophy along with indigenous ontologies as theoretical foundations for shifting from the dominant neoliberal paradigm in current ontologies. Ontologically-based dietary guidelines for the post-Anthropocene diet present the ontological turns, consideration of temporality, and outline technological orientations proposed for sustainable future food systems. This is a novel attempt to integrate non-anthropocentric theories to suggest possible futures for human diets in order to exit the Anthropocene epoch. These non-anthropocentric ontologies demonstrate how temporal considerations and relational worldviews can be guidelines for transforming diets to address public health concerns, the environmental crisis, and socioeconomic challenges.
Sustainability transformations call forth new forms and systems of knowledge across society. However, few tools and processes exist for promoting dialogue among different interests and normative stances in knowledge co-creation. In this article, we build on the notion of thought collectives to argue that understanding and moderating normative tensions are necessary if sustainability science is to provide successful solutions. Drawing on an analysis of the normative tensions between rival high-tech and low-tech thought collectives in the mobility and food production sectors, we discuss three strategic approaches: applying common evaluative frameworks, building contextual convergence and embracing complexity. We argue that these strategies indicate a need to distinguish different kinds of reflexivity in managing tensions among thought collectives. As a practical conclusion, we establish sets of reflexive questions to help sustainability scientists deploy the knowledge management strategies discussed.
International organizations, governments, researchers, and activists have proposed the need for deeper integration of sustainability considerations in national food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs). Yet, as recent scholarship advances the conversation, questions remain around how to effectively frame and address the interconnectedness of multiple sustainability domains. Little systematic analysis has evaluated how current FBDGs have integrated complex messages about socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable consumption practices with nutrition and health messages. This study had two nested objectives: (i) to examine the validity of an existing sustainable diets framework by assessing how sustainability concepts have been framed and included in national FBDGs available from 2011 to 2019 and (ii) to describe a novel analysis approach that augments an existing framework which integrates sustainability domains and can be adapted for use by future FBDGs. A qualitative content analysis was used to examine sustainability concepts found in 12 FBDGs and supporting documents available in English that were developed for use in 16 countries across Europe, North and South America, and Asia as of 2019—from a global review of those published prior to 2016 and gray literature review of publications between 2016 and 2019. Health domains were the primary frame found across the FBDGs examined, but documents also commonly incorporated agricultural, sociocultural, and economic sustainability principles. Analyzed documents were used to adapt an existing policy analysis framework into a “Sustainability in FBDGs Framework.” This proposed framework contributes a novel analysis approach and has five core domains that are interconnected: health and nutrition, food security and agriculture, markets and value chains, sociocultural and political, and environment and ecosystems. This study adds to the growing body of literature related to sustainable food systems and dietary guidelines by presenting how sustainability framing in FBDGs can be used to further develop a comprehensive framework for integrating sustainability domains. While this project helps to validate previous work, further analyses of FBDGs which have emerged since this study and those not available in English are needed to improve the guidance approach described here and for assessing the incorporation of sustainability domains in future FBDGs. This work is useful in informing processes for policy developers to integrate sustainability considerations into their national FBDGs.
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