Overcoming barriers to sustainable, healthy diets

Trends in food sensory science

Perspective: Unpacking the Wicked Challenges for Alternative Proteins in the United States: Can Highly Processed Plant-Based and Cell-Cultured Food and Beverage Products Support Healthy and Sustainable Diets and Food Systems?

The global demand for fish is rising and projected to increase for years to come. However, there is uncertainty whether this increased demand can be met by the conventional approaches of capture fisheries and fish farming because of wild stock depletion, natural resource requirements, and environmental impact concerns. One proposed complementary solution is to manufacture the same meat directly from fish cells, as cell-based fish. More than 30 ventures are competing to commercialize cell-based meat broadly, but the field lacks a foundation of shared scientific knowledge, which threatens to delay progress. Here, we recommend taking a research-focused, more open and collaborative approach to cell-based fish meat development that targets lean fish and an unlikely but very attractive candidate for accelerating research and development, the zebrafish. Although substantial work lies ahead, cell-based meat technology could prove to be a more efficient, less resource-intensive method of producing lean fish meat.

Region-specific nutritious, environmentally friendly, and affordable diets in India

The future of environmental sustainability labelling on food products

Technology offers sustainable nutrition solutions

<scp>IFST</scp> vision for a <scp>UK</scp>‐wide national food strategy

Gaining Acceptance of Novel Plant Breeding Technologies.

Dietitians as change agents for promoting healthy and sustainable food systems

Sustainable diets can achieve considerable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and improvements in human health, but changing dietary behavior remains a challenge. We assessed the impacts of two behavioral insights strategies on bridging the intention-action gap related to sustainable and healthy food choices amongst hospital cafeteria patrons. In a pilot survey of hospital staff (N = 1,165), 56% identified limited awareness and availability of sustainable food as barriers to purchasing, although 46% were extremely willing to try sustainable dishes. We examined increasing salience (Study 1), varying availability (Study 2a), and decreasing availability (Study 2b) on sustainable and healthy dish purchases in three hospital cafeterias. Each study ran for seven weeks from March to April, 2023. In total, 10,616 dishes were purchased. In Study 1, increasing salience was associated with significant uptake of sustainable and healthy dishes, but the effect disappeared once the salience intervention was removed. In Study 2a, increasing availability of sustainable dishes corresponded to a significant increase in purchases of sustainable dishes, while decreasing availability in Study 2b followed a downward trend in purchases, suggesting that availability drove dietary choices. We recommend hospitals consider these choice architecture interventions to support the adoption of sustainable and healthy diets.

Adolescence is an important life-stage during which shifts towards more healthy and sustainable diets can be promoted. Adolescents have increasing influence over their food choices informed by their developing personal knowledge and values, impacting long-term dietary behaviours into adulthood(1). We aimed to review the recent literature regarding adolescents’ perceptions of environmentally sustainable diets, and interventions to support adolescents to eat sustainably. We reviewed published literature that focussed on adolescent participants and their perceptions of, or interventions to support, sustainable dietary habits. Five electronic databases were searched to include studies published since 2012 that met the inclusion criteria. The JBI approach and PRISMA-Sc checklist(2) was used for source screening, data extraction and presentation of data. Data was extracted including study characteristics, methodology and results in relation to each research question. The extracted data was reported, synthesised and discussed in the context of the food system framework(3) and broader research. Twenty-eight articles were included in the review. Findings suggest that adolescents’ understanding of what constitutes sustainable eating is low. Most adolescents, when asked, were unsure of what constitutes sustainable eating, or a plant-based diet. The environmental impact of the production methods, transport and packaging of foods was most commonly reported when adolescents considered the environmental impact of their foods. The most commonly perceived barrier to consuming sustainable foods mentioned was cost, particularly by adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Other barriers include unappealing taste, appearance or smell of ‘sustainable’ food items (particularly those that were vegetarian). Geographical limitations impacting the ability to grow or purchase local and organic products were also mentioned as barriers to consuming sustainable foods. Adolescents reported a lack of understanding of sustainable diets, and distrust of sustainability-related claims from fast-food outlets regarding the quality or source of ingredients, making it difficult to make informed food choices. Additionally, behaviours conflicting with personal and/or group norms were noted as barriers to adopting sustainable dietary habits. Adolescents that had previously received relevant education, valued nature and health, or were from a rural or indigenous community, were more likely to value environmentally sustainable food choices. Interventions which target adolescents’ cognitive understanding and aspiration to make sustainable food choices appear to improve their attitudes towards sustainable food, whereas interventions to increase the availability of sustainable foods improved the environmental sustainability of adolescents’ dietary intake. Multicomponent, tailored and community-based interventions were most effective however the long-term effect of these interventions remains unclear. More research is needed in diverse countries and settings, with consideration of adolescents’ level of autonomy in food choice and long term-effectiveness of interventions.

(1) Background: Dietary behaviour transformation is imperative for the attainment of more sustainable food systems, including an increased intake of plant-based foods and lower consumption of red meat and highly processed foods. The influence of news media coverage on public opinion regarding dietary behaviours is significant. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how sustainable/plant-based diets have been portrayed in Australian news media. (2) Methods: The Factiva global news database was used to search news articles published in Australia between 2018 and 2020. Relevant news articles were selected if they included keywords relating to sustainable diets, plant-based diets, and meat alternatives. We used a coding protocol to extract key information, such as date of publication, article topic, and any health, environmental and economic impacts. Then, we performed a framing and thematic analysis of the data. (3) Results: From 357 included articles, more than half of the articles encouraged increasing the intake of plant-based foods (53.5%) and reducing animal-derived food intake (55.2%). Several reasons for such shift from animal protein centric Australian diets were identified throughout the articles such as health benefits (15.4%), environmental impacts (11.2%), animal welfare (4.8%), seasonality and local food intake (5.3%), avoiding overconsumption (4.5%) and food wastage (4.5%). (4) Conclusions: The predominant frame in Australian news coverage about sustainable diets has been about consumption, more plant- and less animal-based products, with little nuance about the complex interplay of diet quality and environment in influencing food choices. Australian news media should broaden its coverage of sustainable diets to include health, environmental, and economic factors to improve public understanding and facilitate informed and sustainable food choices. Further research is needed to enhance comprehension of how the audience perceives media coverage on this topic, which will provide a more thorough understanding.

Inclusive diets within planetary boundaries

BackgroundAlthough it is evident that current food environments do not facilitate healthy and sustainable diets, it is still largely unknown how adolescents navigate their food environments during the school week. This study explored how adolescents, in rural and urban areas, interact with their food environment, the factors influencing this interaction and the opportunities they perceive to get healthy and sustainable food.MethodsA mixed-methods study was conducted among 305 adolescents, aged 12–16, of which 54% identified as female, 43% as male, and 3% as non-binary or other. Adolescents from 13 classes at four Dutch secondary schools in rural and urban areas participated. Participants completed a questionnaire and a food environment mapping assignment. Next, 50 focus groups were conducted with 5–8 participants each. Questionnaire and assignment data were analysed using descriptive statistics. Focus groups were analysed inductively, through a thematic analysis, to identify socioecological factors influencing adolescents’ interaction with their environment.ResultsOf all food outlets, adolescents marked their home (n = 305), the supermarket (n = 268), and the school canteen (n = 194) as the most visited locations to obtain food during a school week. The home was perceived as a safe and pleasant place to eat, as well as a place where healthy and sustainable food is available and consumed. In out-of-home settings, adolescents perceived more freedom to make their own choices and fewer adolescents indicated that they obtain healthy and sustainable food themselves. Focus groups revealed 18 factors underlying adolescents’ food choices in their environment, including the need for autonomy, the social function of food among peers, the influence of caregivers, the importance of a diverse and appealing food offer, and the price of food. Differences between rural and urban areas were mainly found in the presence and use of fast-food outlets and delivery services.ConclusionsWhile navigating the food offer in their homes, schools and other food outlets, adolescents balance more healthy and sustainable food choices at home with more autonomous, but less healthy and less sustainable, choices outside of their homes. To support adolescents in making more healthy and sustainable choices, environments in and around schools should be designed to promote healthy and sustainable options that are affordable, while also facilitating a social mealtime and giving adolescents space to express autonomy in their food choices.

A food revolution – cultivated meat