Abstract
Background: This study aims to find diets with low price and low climate impact, yet fulfilling all nutritional requirements. Methods: Optimization by linear programming. The program constrains 33 nutrients to fulfill Dutch dietary requirements. In a second cycle, the upper boundary for climate impact through greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) is set to 1.6 kg carbon dioxide equivalents/day (CO2eq). In a third cycle, the costs are set on €2.50 as a constraint. The objective function of the optimization maximized the most consumed food products (n = 206) for male and female adults separately (age 31–50). Results: A diet of 63 popular and low priced basic products was found to deliver all required nutrients at an adequate level for both male and female adults. This plant-based, carbohydrate and fiber-rich diet consists mainly of wholegrain bread, potatoes, muesli, open-field vegetables and fruits. The climate impact of this diet is very low (1.59 kg CO2eq/day) compared to the average Dutch diet. By constraining costs, a low carbon diet of €2.59/day is possible. Conclusions: A two-person diet consisting of 63 products and costing €37 per week can simultaneously be healthy and yet have half the average climate impact. Linear programming is a promising tool to combine health and sustainability on both societal and individual levels.
Highlights
Over 25 years ago, Brundtland [1] was among the first to call for sustainable development.the focus on sustainable diets is much more recent
The novelty of this study lies in the inclusion of the use of (1) Dutch data on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and land use (LU) data; (2) an extensive list of nutrient constraints (n = 33); (3) a relatively large number of food products compared to similar studies; (4) differentiated female and male diets; and (5) a proxy for popularity
Linear programming models could be too crude and infeasible, but our model addresses this issue through considerable constraints and a popularity proxy
Summary
Over 25 years ago, Brundtland [1] was among the first to call for sustainable development.the focus on sustainable diets is much more recent. In the UK, for instance, the Advice to Government on priority elements of sustainable diets [3] (a review of 44 scientific publications) identified three changes likely to have the most significant and immediate impact on making our diets more sustainable and in which health, environmental, economic and social impact are more likely to complement each other. These changes are: (1) reducing consumption of meat and dairy products;. Results: A diet of 63 popular and low priced basic products was found to deliver all required nutrients at an adequate level for both male and female adults
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