Healthy diets for sustainable food systems: a narrative review

ARRIETA, E. M.; AGUIAR, SEBASTIAN

Environmental Science: Advances

Royal Society of Chemestry

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2023 vol. 2 p. 684 - 694

Toface the challenge of feeding a growing population that changes itslifestyles and diets while trying to conserve natural resources andto protect biodiversity, there are three main strategies to achievesuch sustainability goals: (1) changing current agriculturalpractices, (2) reducing losses and waste throughout the foodproduction and processing chain, and 3) promoting healthy andsustainable diets. Strategies (1) and (2) are important and they arepart of the academic, government and industrial agenda, but thestrategy (3) has been given little attention so far. However,increasing the efficiency of the production, processing anddistribution of foods (strategies 1 and 2) may trigger unexpectedrebound effects that could offset the gains. Hence, addressing thedemand-side by promoting (and facilitating) healthy and sustainablefood choices is a valuable tool to contribute to the sustainabilityof the food systems. In this narrative review we (1) explored theenvironmental impacts of the global food system; (2) reviewed therole of efficiency improvement in agriculture activities to mitigatethe environmental impact of food production; (3) summarized thelimitations related to technical and technological changes due to therebound effect; and (4) reviewed what healthy eating is and why it isthe central piece of a sustainable food system.p { margin-bottom: 0.25cm; direction: ltr; color: #000000; line-height: 115%; text-align: left; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background: transparent }p.western { font-family: "Arial", serif; font-size: 11pt; so-language: es }p.cjk { font-family: "Arial"; font-size: 11pt; so-language: zh-CN }p.ctl { font-family: "Arial"; font-size: 11pt; so-language: hi-IN }a:link { color: #000080; so-language: zxx; text-decoration: underline }