Improving diet quality while simultaneously reducing environmental impact is a critical focus globally. Metrics linking diet quality and sustainability have typically focused on a limited suite of indicators, and have not included food waste. To address this important research gap, we examine the relationship between food waste, diet quality, nutrient waste, and multiple measures of sustainability: use of cropland, irrigation water, pesticides, and fertilizers. Data on food intake, food waste, and application rates of agricultural amendments were collected from diverse US government sources. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-2015. A biophysical simulation model was used to estimate the amount of cropland associated with wasted food. This analysis finds that US consumers wasted 422g of food per person daily, with 30 million acres of cropland used to produce this food every year. This accounts for 30% of daily calories available for consumption, one-quarter of daily food (by weight) available for consumption, and 7% of annual cropland acreage. Higher quality diets were associated with greater amounts of food waste and greater amounts of wasted irrigation water and pesticides, but less cropland waste. This is largely due to fruits and vegetables, which are health-promoting and require small amounts of cropland, but require substantial amounts of agricultural inputs. These results suggest that simultaneous efforts to improve diet quality and reduce food waste are necessary. Increasing consumers’ knowledge about how to prepare and store fruits and vegetables will be one of the practical solutions to reducing food waste.

BackgroundLarge socio-economic disparities exist in US dietary habits and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. While economic incentives have demonstrated success in improving dietary choices, the quantitative impact of different dietary policies on CVD disparities is not well established. We aimed to quantify and compare the potential effects on total CVD mortality and disparities of specific dietary policies to increase fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption and reduce sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in the US.Methods and findingsUsing the US IMPACT Food Policy Model and probabilistic sensitivity analyses, we estimated and compared the reductions in CVD mortality and socio-economic disparities in the US population potentially achievable from 2015 to 2030 with specific dietary policy scenarios: (a) a national mass media campaign (MMC) aimed to increase consumption of F&Vs and reduce consumption of SSBs, (b) a national fiscal policy to tax SSBs to increase prices by 10%, (c) a national fiscal policy to subsidise F&Vs to reduce prices by 10%, and (d) a targeted policy to subsidise F&Vs to reduce prices by 30% among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants only. We also evaluated a combined policy approach, combining all of the above policies. Data sources included the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program, National Vital Statistics System, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and published meta-analyses.Among the individual policy scenarios, a national 10% F&V subsidy was projected to be most beneficial, potentially resulting in approximately 150,500 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 141,400–158,500) CVD deaths prevented or postponed (DPPs) by 2030 in the US. This far exceeds the approximately 35,100 (95% UI 31,700–37,500) DPPs potentially attributable to a 30% F&V subsidy targeting SNAP participants, the approximately 25,800 (95% UI 24,300–28,500) DPPs for a 1-y MMC, or the approximately 31,000 (95% UI 26,800–35,300) DPPs for a 10% SSB tax.Neither the MMC nor the individual national economic policies would significantly reduce CVD socio-economic disparities. However, the SNAP-targeted intervention might potentially reduce CVD disparities between SNAP participants and SNAP-ineligible individuals, by approximately 8% (10 DPPs per 100,000 population). The combined policy approach might save more lives than any single policy studied (approximately 230,000 DPPs by 2030) while also significantly reducing disparities, by approximately 6% (7 DPPs per 100,000 population).Limitations include our effect estimates in the model; these estimates use interventional and prospective observational studies (not exclusively randomised controlled trials). They are thus imperfect and should be interpreted as the best available evidence. Another key limitation is that we considered only CVD outcomes; the policies we explored would undoubtedly have additional beneficial effects upon other diseases. Further, we did not model or compare the cost-effectiveness of each proposed polic...

Farms producing similar products have become increasingly concentrated geographically over the past century in the United States (US). Due to the concentration of food production, a disruption in key production areas may reduce the availability of certain foods nationwide. For example, climate change poses such a threat, with projections of altered precipitation patterns, increased temperature and pest outbreaks, which may result in reduced crop yields and geographic shifts in crop adaptation. Analyses of the degree to which US regions can satisfy the food needs of their resident populations—a concept we refer to as regional self-reliance (RSR)—are therefore warranted. We focus on the Northeast region because of its high population density and declining agricultural landbase. Our objectives are to: (1) determine how agricultural land is used in the Northeast region; (2) determine the variety and amount of foods produced; and (3) analyze the relationship between food consumption and agricultural output. Annual (2001–2010) data on land area, yield and output of all crops and major livestock categories, as well as seafood landings, were catalogued. National annual (2001–2009) data on food availability were used as a proxy for estimates of food consumption, and these data were downscaled to a regional level and compared with regional production data in order to estimate RSR. In the Northeast region, approximately 65% of land in farms contributed directly to the food supply from 2001 to 2010, although this varied significantly across states. Just over one-half of all land in farms in the region was devoted to the production of livestock feed. The region produced >100 food crops annually from 2001 to 2009, and vegetables represented the majority of food crop production by weight. Chicken accounted for the largest weight of meat products produced. Compared to the Northeast region's share (~6%) of total land in farms in the nation, it accounted for disproportionately higher amounts of the national production of dairy (16%), eggs (13%), chicken (9%), lamb (7%) and vegetables (7%). However, the region accounted for ~22% of the national population and therefore produced a disproportionately low share of food on a per capita basis. RSR for plant-based foods was lowest for pulses (7%) and highest for vegetables (26%). There are four specific factors in the RSR in our analysis, each of which could result in substantial shifts (upward or downward) of the RSR in the future: land used for agriculture, crop (or animal) productivity, population and dietary preferences.

Dietary fat composition may modulate energy expenditure and body weight. Little is known about the relationship between fatty acid intake and body weight at a population level. The purposes of this study were to compare intakes of energy, macronutrients, and individual fatty acids across BMI categories (1) for the US adult population and, (2) by sociodemographic groups. Reported dietary intake data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and What We Eat in America (WWEIA) surveys in the years 2005–2012 were analyzed. Overall, we found that the reported intake of carbohydrate, protein, total fat, total saturated fat (as well as long-chain saturated fatty acids 14:0–18:0), and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) were positively associated with BMI; while lauric acid (a medium-chain saturated fatty acid, 12:0) and total polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) (as well as all individual PUFAs) were not associated with BMI. Non-Hispanic black individuals demonstrated a negative association between BMI and energy intake and a positive association between total PUFAs, linoleic acid (LA), α-linolenic acid (ALA) and BMI. Individuals with less than a high school education showed a negative association between BMI and DHA. Mexican-Americans reported intakes with no association between BMI and energy, any macronutrient, or individual fatty acids. These findings support those of experimental studies demonstrating fatty acid-dependent associations between dietary fatty acid composition and body weight. Notably, we observed divergent results for some sociodemographic groups which warrant further investigation.