Policies and actions to shift eating patterns
we need to shift eating patterns due to the environmental impacts.
but, what does it work to shift those patterns?
how can we shift individual choices when their consequences are not seen immediately or are quantified only in the long term or geographically far away from where the choice is done?
this is an answer that nobody has.
it is also a different depending on the country or political or cultural realities.
one way to answer is in this report and says it is made of different approaches:
No one approach will achieve the changes we need in the time we have. A mix of approaches – regulatory, fiscal, voluntary, and contextual and information oriented – is required.
Other conclusions are:
Consumption matters: sustainable healthy diets should be a policy priority: A global shift towards more healthy and sustainable eating patterns is urgently needed. Policy makers and industry need to recognise the importance of this goal and prioritise efforts to advance it.
Don’t leave it to the individual: For too long the focus of interventions around health, and now sustainability, has been on the individual. This needs to change; approaches aimed at getting individuals to change voluntarily have limited impacts. The context of consumption also needs reshaping.
Don’t leave it to industry goodwill or enlightened self interest: While the food industry is taking positive steps to address some of the health and environmental problems it causes through its involvement in certification schemes and shared voluntary agreements, these measures alone are not enough. Government should provide a framework within which these voluntary initiatives operate.
Governments need to govern: There is a need for policy makers to set a strong regulatory and fiscal framework.
Schools are a promising context for intervention: School based interventions, show promising and positive results. There is now a need to move the agenda on by incorporating environmental considerations into the design and implementation of interventions.
Composite approaches are needed: No one approach will achieve the changes we need in the time we have. A mix of approaches – regulatory, fiscal, voluntary, and contextual and information oriented – is required.
Time, commitment and money needs to be invested in developing clear and consistent metrics and reporting processes: Interventions need to be underpinned by effective mechanisms for tracking and understanding their impacts. Equally there needs to be more consistency in establishing what outcomes are to be reported and measured and how.
Lack of evidence is not an excuse for inaction: action engenders evidence: Policy inaction leads to a paucity of empirical evidence. Trials and experimentation particularly based on the some of the more politically challenging fiscal and regulatory approaches are essential.
A whole supply chain approach is needed to understand the environmental and health relationship, including trade- offs: While there are many overlaps between health and environmental goals there can be trade-offs too, particularly when a whole supply chain approach is considered. Thus
production and consumption side measures, and the relationship between them, need to be understood and considered together and interventions designed with these in mind.
More research is (inevitably) needed: While underlining the importance of action now, clearly there are areas where further research is needed, and the report identifies some key questions to pursue.
the report had included a specific discussion regarding to fish:
Eating practice: Fish – a divergent issue
Health rationale: Fish is a major source of protein and essential nutrients in many
settings. Consumption of omega-3 fatty acids is associated with reduced risk
of cardiovascular disease.86 Evidence on its role in cognitive function requires
more research.
Environmental rationale: Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse; there is
not enough fish available for us all globally to consume in accordance with
nutritional recommendations.
Qualifiers and caveats: Concerns that levels of methylmercury and dioxins in
some species may have adverse effects on human health, particularly in some
populations (e.g. women of childbearing age).
Not all fish stocks are overexploited and aquaculture holds potential to address
some environmental concerns depending on the system of production.
Fish, fishing and aquaculture production can be a very important source of animal
protein and livelihoods for food insecure populations in many parts of the world
and for vulnerable coastal communities.
regarding to shift eating fish patterns, it concludes that:
We found only one intervention that specifically sought to increase fish
consumption for health and this was partly industry funded.
Environment-oriented interventions mainly took the form (as with palm oil) of media campaigns and certification schemes.
in Garnett T, Mathewson S, Angelides P and Borthwick F (2015) Policies and actions to shift eating patterns: What works? A review of the evidence of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at shifting diets in more sustainable and healthy directions. Food Climate Research Network, University of Oxford.
but, what does it work to shift those patterns?
how can we shift individual choices when their consequences are not seen immediately or are quantified only in the long term or geographically far away from where the choice is done?
this is an answer that nobody has.
it is also a different depending on the country or political or cultural realities.
one way to answer is in this report and says it is made of different approaches:
No one approach will achieve the changes we need in the time we have. A mix of approaches – regulatory, fiscal, voluntary, and contextual and information oriented – is required.
Other conclusions are:
Consumption matters: sustainable healthy diets should be a policy priority: A global shift towards more healthy and sustainable eating patterns is urgently needed. Policy makers and industry need to recognise the importance of this goal and prioritise efforts to advance it.
Don’t leave it to the individual: For too long the focus of interventions around health, and now sustainability, has been on the individual. This needs to change; approaches aimed at getting individuals to change voluntarily have limited impacts. The context of consumption also needs reshaping.
Don’t leave it to industry goodwill or enlightened self interest: While the food industry is taking positive steps to address some of the health and environmental problems it causes through its involvement in certification schemes and shared voluntary agreements, these measures alone are not enough. Government should provide a framework within which these voluntary initiatives operate.
Governments need to govern: There is a need for policy makers to set a strong regulatory and fiscal framework.
Schools are a promising context for intervention: School based interventions, show promising and positive results. There is now a need to move the agenda on by incorporating environmental considerations into the design and implementation of interventions.
Composite approaches are needed: No one approach will achieve the changes we need in the time we have. A mix of approaches – regulatory, fiscal, voluntary, and contextual and information oriented – is required.
Time, commitment and money needs to be invested in developing clear and consistent metrics and reporting processes: Interventions need to be underpinned by effective mechanisms for tracking and understanding their impacts. Equally there needs to be more consistency in establishing what outcomes are to be reported and measured and how.
Lack of evidence is not an excuse for inaction: action engenders evidence: Policy inaction leads to a paucity of empirical evidence. Trials and experimentation particularly based on the some of the more politically challenging fiscal and regulatory approaches are essential.
A whole supply chain approach is needed to understand the environmental and health relationship, including trade- offs: While there are many overlaps between health and environmental goals there can be trade-offs too, particularly when a whole supply chain approach is considered. Thus
production and consumption side measures, and the relationship between them, need to be understood and considered together and interventions designed with these in mind.
More research is (inevitably) needed: While underlining the importance of action now, clearly there are areas where further research is needed, and the report identifies some key questions to pursue.
the report had included a specific discussion regarding to fish:
Eating practice: Fish – a divergent issue
Health rationale: Fish is a major source of protein and essential nutrients in many
settings. Consumption of omega-3 fatty acids is associated with reduced risk
of cardiovascular disease.86 Evidence on its role in cognitive function requires
more research.
Environmental rationale: Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse; there is
not enough fish available for us all globally to consume in accordance with
nutritional recommendations.
Qualifiers and caveats: Concerns that levels of methylmercury and dioxins in
some species may have adverse effects on human health, particularly in some
populations (e.g. women of childbearing age).
Not all fish stocks are overexploited and aquaculture holds potential to address
some environmental concerns depending on the system of production.
Fish, fishing and aquaculture production can be a very important source of animal
protein and livelihoods for food insecure populations in many parts of the world
and for vulnerable coastal communities.
regarding to shift eating fish patterns, it concludes that:
We found only one intervention that specifically sought to increase fish
consumption for health and this was partly industry funded.
Environment-oriented interventions mainly took the form (as with palm oil) of media campaigns and certification schemes.
in Garnett T, Mathewson S, Angelides P and Borthwick F (2015) Policies and actions to shift eating patterns: What works? A review of the evidence of the effectiveness of interventions aimed at shifting diets in more sustainable and healthy directions. Food Climate Research Network, University of Oxford.