Can we eat our way to a healthy and ecologically sustainable food system?

Abstract

The food system is a major contributor to climate change, biodiversity loss, eutrophication and deforestation. This article examines national dietary guidelines as a way to shift dietary patterns in the population toward diets that continue to promote health while being more ecologically sustainable. While some sustainability principles may be inherent in the 2007 Canada’s Food Guide (e.g., an emphasis on plant-based foods), these were not made explicit. As Health Canada undertakes a revision of its national dietary guidance, a unique opportunity exists to situate dietary guidelines within the broader context of Canada’s first-ever national food policy. Coherence between these two policies has the potential to position the role of diets as a core link between food systems and both human and ecological health. This paper explores the possibilities of advancing sustainability principles within Canadian national dietary guidelines by drawing on evidence-based literature and key sustainability messages within dietary guidelines from four countries that have integrated many of these principles. Lessons and perspectives from international experiences on incorporating environmental sustainability into dietary guidelines are described including: influence of the food industry; cross-sector collaboration and alliances; civil society participation; and “win-win” messages. Application of these lessons to Canada, followed by opportunities to advance the incorporation of sustainability principles within the country’s national dietary guidelines are then proposed.

Conceptualising sustainability in Canadian dietetic practice: A scoping review

“…After data extraction, 11 peer reviewed articles remained, all published since 2008. 10,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Nine articles were written by RDs, or with a dietitian on the author team. 10,[15][16][17]19,[21][22][23][24] Two were written by other health professionals but with specific and explicit relevance for RDs.…”

“…10,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] Nine articles were written by RDs, or with a dietitian on the author team. 10,[15][16][17]19,[21][22][23][24] Two were written by other health professionals but with specific and explicit relevance for RDs. 18,20 Sixteen grey literature documents were published since 2004 [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] ; 15 were written by RDs, or with a dietitian on the author team (this included one who identified as a Nutritionist and is a licensed RD) [25][26][27][28][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]…”

An Approach for Integrating and Analyzing Sustainability in Food-Based Dietary Guidelines

“…Dietary guidelines have been proposed as one tool to promote sustainable dietary practices and address the complex challenge of shifting diets (Gussow and Clancy, 1986;Dye Gussow, 1999;Lang, 2017;Lang and Mason, 2017;Seed and Rocha, 2018;Willett et al, 2019). Recent evidence has shown that greater adherence to FBDGs has been correlated with more plant-based diets; further, diets following guidelines were associated with lower health costs, energy intake and environmental impact scores, more deaths averted, and less exposure to pesticides (Kesse-Guyot et al, 2020).…”

“…Food based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) are a tool to disseminate the policy guidance given by national governments, and can be the foundation of national dietary education, measurement, and monitoring activities (Seed and Rocha, 2018).…”

“…Members party to the Rome Declaration on Nutrition (FAO, 2014) and the United Nations (UN) Decade of Action on Nutrition (United Nations, 2017) have committed to incorporate sustainability considerations in national policy change for health and nutrition. Prior calls from scholars for sustainability in FBDGs have supported such policy transitions (Gussow and Clancy, 1986;Dye Gussow, 1999;Lang, 2017;Lang and Mason, 2017;Seed and Rocha, 2018;Willett et al, 2019).…”