Sustainable Healthy Diets

Current diets are unsustainable at global and local scales and the idea of sustainable healthy diets is linked to a range of SDGs. Sustainable diets are defined as “those diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations. Sustainable diets are protective and respectful of biodiversity and ecosystems, culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable; nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy; while optimizing natural and human resources.” (Source: FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) (2012): Final Document. In: Burlingame B, Dernini S (Hrsg.): Sustainable diets and biodiversity - Directions and solutions for policy research and action. Proceedings of the International Scientific Symposium Biodiversity and Sustainable Diets United Against Hunger. FAO, Rome). In fact, many people worldwide consume unhealthy diets and suffer from diet related diseases. The triple burden of malnutrition describes undernutrition, nutrient deficiencies and chronic disease risk which can all be linked to unfavorable dietary intake. At the same time, agricultural practices for the production of both food and non-food biomass have large environmental impacts. In this research topic, research addresses all elements of the food system interconnected to serve sustainable healthy diets.  

Research under this research topic is largely interdisciplinary taking a holistic food systems perspective, from production to consumption and health. Along with a number of studies and research projects into the different food system perspectives this is underpinned by long-term cohort studies into diets and health that are led by Bonn University in the Global North and those newly to be set-up in the Global South which investigate the human health outcomes.

Our research aims at finding food system solutions for sustainable healthy diets. Here, we explicitly take a worldwide perspective, because of the interconnectedness of the food systems actors and the different positive and negative relationships/feedback loops across countries and regions.