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Hot Topic Resource Cluster: Blue Foods

September 22, 2023April 7, 2023 by SFS Coordinator ICDA

Thank you to Júlia Muñoz for staring this cluster!

Summary of key points in this cluster:
– Blue foods are more than fish. The aquatic ecosystem include much more than just fish such as crustaceans, cephalopods, molluscs, plants, algae, mammals and insects. – Blue foods are an important source of valuable nutrients considered essential in the pursuit of the sustainable development goals. In many regions communities depend nutritionally and economically on aquatic foods. Blue foods are usually estimated to have a carbon footprint better than most terrestrial animals, often around the level of chicken, and sometimes even lower. – The livelihoods of many communities depend on aquatic system outputs… …however, the high pressure big firms are putting on the seafood market is threating the wellbeing of these communities. – The aquatic food system is being threaten by climate change aftermaths and other hazards. Ocean warming, acidification, cyclones, and water pollution are negatively affecting the productivity from fisheries and aquacultures. – By 2050, bluefood demand is expected to double due to population and income growth. To cope with this increase is paramount to improve farming and wild-catching techniques to be less resource dependent, approach to emissions neutrality and respect the marine ecosystem. – Dietitians can help the population to make sustainable choices on blue food. To do so, some key messages are: 1) Ensure the diversity of the seafood consumed, data shows that we tend to uptake a narrow variety of species. 2) Choose seafood lower on the food chain such as mussels or anchovies. 3) Check for labels that ensure seafood has been fished sustainably such as MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) or ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council) 4) If possible, consume local seafood. Sometimes, this does not mean that foods will be more environmentally friendly, but likely to support local farmers.

Summary of key points in this cluster:

– Blue foods are more than fish.
The aquatic ecosystem include much more than just fish such as crustaceans, cephalopods, molluscs, plants, algae, mammals and insects.

– Blue foods are an important source of valuable nutrients considered essential in the pursuit of the sustainable development goals.
In many regions communities depend nutritionally and economically on aquatic foods. Blue foods are usually estimated to have a carbon footprint better than most terrestrial animals, often around the level of chicken, and sometimes even lower.

– The livelihoods of many communities depend on aquatic system outputs…
…however, the high pressure big firms are putting on the seafood market is threating the wellbeing of these communities.

– The aquatic food system is being threaten by climate change aftermaths and other hazards.
Ocean warming, acidification, cyclones, and water pollution are negatively affecting the productivity from fisheries and aquacultures.

– By 2050, bluefood demand is expected to double due to population and income growth.
To cope with this increase is paramount to improve farming and wild-catching techniques to be less resource dependent, approach to emissions neutrality and respect the marine ecosystem.

– Dietitians can help the population to make sustainable choices on blue food. To do so, some key messages are:
1) Ensure the diversity of the seafood consumed, data shows that we tend to uptake a narrow variety of species.
2) Choose seafood lower on the food chain such as mussels or anchovies.
3) Check for labels that ensure seafood has been fished sustainably such as MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) or ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council)
4) If possible, consume local seafood. Sometimes, this does not mean that foods will be more environmentally friendly, but likely to support local farmers.

Resources in the ICDA SFS Toolkit:

🌀 Organizations, projects and collaborations:

Blue Food Assessment: it is an international collaboration that gather the expertise from more than 100 scientists and over 25 institutions to assess the evidence on aquatic food systems and assist decision makers in making informed choices regarding opportunities, trade-offs, and the implementation of solutions that can promote the development of healthy equitable, and sustainable food systems.

Seafood tomorrow (2021): European project that aims at creating innovative and sustainable solutions for improving the safety and dietary properties of seafood in Europe. Access a booklet that summarised their Eco-Innovative Solutions and Key Exploitable Results.

🐠 Tools:

Marine Conservation Society: Good Fish Guide: Assess the environmental impact of seafoods consumed in the UK. Indicators used to assess the sustainability of farm fish are feed used, environmental impacts and interactions, fish welfare, regulation, and management. Concerning wild-caught seafood they assess stock status, management, and capture method (which may affect habitat, bycatching, and vulnerable species).

FishChoice Calculator: Resource developed for the EU under the H2020 project ‘SEAFOOD Tomorrow’ that provides personal fish calculator for an overview of the nutritional content of the fish consumed weekly, its potential contaminants, and its sustainability along with links to sources.

Aquatic Foods Toolkit (2023): A World of Aquatic Foods Resources: Open-access resources designed to empower chefs, foodservice, consumer packaged goods entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and other aquatic food advocates in promoting bivalves and sea vegetables. Free, open-access toolkits, packed with evidence-based resources, eater insights, tested messaging, nutritional guidance, and inspiring recipes. Access to an interactive Aquatic Foods Ecosystem Map, so you can connect with others creating impact through sea vegetables and bivalves.

🐳 Certification Organizations:

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC): The MSC is a third party organization that assesses population wellbeing, impact on marine environment and management of fisheries around the world. Its aim is to facilitate consumers identify seafood that has been caught through techniques respectful with the environment, conservation, and biodiversity.

Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC): The ASC is a third party organization that certifies farmed seafood has been produced respectfully with the environment and in a just way. To achieve this, they use some of the following indicators: water quality, responsible sourcing of feed, disease prevention, animal welfare, the fair treatment and pay of workers and maintaining positive relationships with neighbouring communities.

🔷 Research:

Seaweed’s contribution to food security in low- and middle-income countries: Benefits from production, processing and trade (2023 Jun): One proposed solution has been to focus more on water-based food systems in general (often referred to as ‘blue foods’), and on seaweed in particular. But how realistic are such propositions? This paper explores the potential of seaweed to address food insecurity and poor nutrition in LMICs, alongside its potential to mitigate the carbon footprint of food systems globally.

Four ways blue foods help achieve food system ambitions across nations (2023): This document provides a country specific assessment of how seafoods can improve global challenges at local and international level through 4 policy objectives.

The vital roles of blue foods in the global food system (2022): Provides an overview of the potentialities seafood have in reshaping current food systems and promoting global food security.

Assessing seafood nutritional diversity together with climate impacts informs more comprehensive dietary advice (2022): This article can help dietitians identify nutritious seafoods with low environmental impact in comparison with commonly consumed terrestrial animal.

Compound climate risks threaten aquatic food systems benefits (2021): Authors propose a framework that helps to comprehensively identify climate risks associated with aquatic food systems. They identify four main climate risk profiles and explain challenges and opportunities that will help build a resilient aquatic food system.

Aquatic foods to nourish nations (2021): Provides an overview of the nutritional benefits from aquatic foods in comparison with commonly consumed terrestrial animals and highlights the socioeconomic benefits from increasing its production. Additionally, they provide four policy recommendations to aid governments building resilient aquatic food systems that ensure food security.

🐟 Podcasts-Webinars-Workshops

Do you have a suggestion? Let us know on ICDAsfs.Coordinator@acadiau.ca.

🌐 Case study:

Red-Listed Seafood: Removing Red-Listed Seafood in Acadia University’s Wheelock Dining Hall – Acadia University has worked with their Food Service Provider to prioritize healthy and sustainable food on campus. In 2018, they released the Acadia Food Plan, which includes measurable targets to achieve these priorities. This includes a target to serve sustainable seafood (e.g., Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified) and to not serve any seafood that has been “Red-Listed” (unsustainable) by Ocean Wise.

Developed: 2023 April 7, updated April 20

Hot Topic Resource Cluster: D-Ns role in Food Waste (2023 Apr)

September 26, 2023September 27, 2022 by SFS Coordinator ICDA

Summary of key points in this cluster:
– Zero Waste is achievable: Nature never wastes. All byproducts feed something else. Waste is only waste if we waste. Thoughtful innovation, design, and behaviours are key to our success. – Wasted food is harming our earth and people adapted from FAO International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste: • 31% of our food is wasted. • 14% of the world’s food is lost after harvest, up to – but not including the retail stage of the supply chain. • 17% is wasted in retail and at the consumption level. • This food loss and waste account for 8 -10 per cent of the total global greenhouse gases, contributing to an unstable climate and extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding. These changes negatively impact crop yields, reduce the nutritional quality of crops, cause supply chain disruptions and threaten food security and nutrition. – Dietitians-Nutritionists are influential and valuable! While not solely responsible for environmental sustainability initiatives, Dietitians-Nutritionists have a strong influence over food services, and food in the institutions is a strong driver of environmental impacts. Dietitians-Nutritionists should be at the table, collaborating with relevant colleagues to support this effort. – Practical Tips for using food wisely: • First in First out – store & use food correctly from the pantry, freezer, and fridge • Plan your meals, involve the whole family and make a shopping list together • Be creative with any leftovers – eat them as part of the next meal or snack or transform them to something new. • Share your solutions and discuss you struggles with relevant groups you are part of (schools, religions, community, etc.)

Summary of key points in this cluster:

– Zero Waste is achievable:
Nature never wastes. All byproducts feed something else. Waste is only waste if we waste. Thoughtful innovation, design, and behaviours are key to our success.

– Wasted food is harming our earth and people
adapted from FAO International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste:
• 31% of our food is wasted.
• 14% of the world’s food is lost after harvest, up to – but not including the retail stage of the supply chain.
• 17% is wasted in retail and at the consumption level.
• This food loss and waste account for 8 -10 per cent of the total global greenhouse gases, contributing to an unstable climate and extreme weather events such as droughts and flooding. These changes negatively impact crop yields, reduce the nutritional quality of crops, cause supply chain disruptions and threaten food security and nutrition.

– Dietitians-Nutritionists are influential and valuable!
While not solely responsible for environmental sustainability initiatives, Dietitians-Nutritionists have a strong influence over food services, and food in the institutions is a strong driver of environmental impacts. Dietitians-Nutritionists should be at the table, collaborating with relevant colleagues to support this effort.

– Practical Tips for using food wisely:
• First in First out – store & use food correctly from the pantry, freezer, and fridge
• Plan your meals, involve the whole family and make a shopping list together
• Be creative with any leftovers – eat them as part of the next meal or snack or transform them to something new.
• Share your solutions and discuss you struggles with relevant groups you are part of (schools, religions, community, etc.)

Resources in the ICDA SFS Toolkit:

Case study:

SecondBite was created in 2005 in Australia and shows how the hard work and determination of just two individuals can lead to a decrease in hunger and food waste and an indirect increase in food security for thousands of people by saving nutritious food from entering the landfill, and instead, entering the homes of many people who need it.

Addressing Food Waste at University College Dublin, Ireland (2023 Sep) – A team at University College Dublin (UCD) aimed to capture a snapshot of food waste within the campus food system. Two students undertook this as their final year project for the BSc in Human Nutrition at UCD and two students were working as work placement interns with the clinical nutrition and dietetics team at the School of Public Health, Physiotherapy & Sports Science.

Research:

Factors influencing implementation of food and food-related waste audits in hospital foodservices (2022) – The consensus tool can be used to support hospital foodservices to complete food and food-related waste audits, although it may need to be customised to be fit for purpose. Optimising the capacity, change management and processes, governance and leadership of the foodservice department may improve the experience and success of a food and food-related waste audit.

Food and food-related waste management strategies in hospital food services: A systematic review (2022) – This review summarises the waste management strategies used by hospitals worldwide that divert food and food-related waste from landfill, their outcomes, and position in the food recovery hierarchy to enable hospital food services to implement appropriate practice and policy changes to decrease their environmental footprint.

‘It’s a constant changing environment, and we’re just playing catch up’: Hospital food services, food waste, and COVID-19 (2022 Jun) – The research wanted to understand the impacts of COVID-19 on hospital foodservice practices. Specifically, how COVID-19 impacted the completion of food waste audits and the generation of food waste in hospital foodservice.

A systematic review of food waste audit methods in hospital foodservices: development of a consensus pathway food waste audit tool (2022 Mar) – The present review aimed to collate reported methods and establish a preferred approach for conducting a waste audit in a hospital foodservice setting. Measure aggregate food and food-related waste in hospital foodservices on a regular basis to generate baseline data, identify problem areas, and possibly demonstrate improvements in waste levels over time.

Environmental Sustainability of Hospital Foodservices Across the Food Supply Chain: A systematic review (2020) – While not solely responsible for environmental sustainability initiatives, this evidence tells us that dietitians have a strong influence over hospital food services, and food in the hospital is a strong driver of environmental impacts. This means planning with the whole hospital food system in mind, to maximize benefits (e.g., co-benefits between decreased food waste, increased food and nutrient intake, recovery times, and decreased costs).

Reduce, Recover, Recycle—Food Waste in Prince George’s County, Maryland USA (2019) This study describes Prince George’s County‘s problem of food waste and presents policy recommendations and strategies, supported by national promising practices, to reduce, recover, and recycle food waste in the County. It provides an excellent example of what you can do where you are as well – either mimicking their study or using some of their ideas in your food council or other group or institution

Tools:

Swedish Dietitians Work to Reduce Food Waste (2020) – Swedish Dietitians produced a handbook inSwedish that explains food waste and includes how-to information for reduction and measurement. Coordinator thought: Could a volunteer translate this handbook so more of us can use it?

Tips to Reduce Foodwaste created by Nutrition Australia (2021) as a quick guide to reducing food waste at the consumer level through purchasing, storing, packaging, and preparation.

Reducing Food Waste Activity (2013) – To reduce food waste by planning in flexible meals that use up things that would otherwise be composted.To communicate your menu choices and sustainability benefits to clients

Webinars:

This is a series of recorded webinars organised by the European Federations of the Associations of Dietitians (EFAD) (2021-22) on Sustainable and Healthy Diets. Webinar 4 focuses on Dietitian-Nutritionists’ roles in food waste with three speakers.

Action Track #2: Shift to Sustainable Consumption Patterns with EAT (2021) – Solutions to shift to sustainably produced food, strengthen local value chains and improve nutrition (especially amongst the most vulnerable), and reuse and recycle food resources so that we can half food waste.

Sustainable & Wellness Oriented Lifestyle Practices (2020) by Integrated Dietetics’ Dr. Ram Aditya and Mr. T Kumaresan via Facebook live discusses important sustainability topics including biodiversity and food waste, and includes tips on how to incorporate sustainable practices in everyday life.

Websites:

Diet for a Green Planet‘s firth criteria is reduced waste and includes a variety of tools related to diet & zero waste.

Green Healthcare: Healthy and Sustainable Food by the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care has a page on Food Waste that has reports, flyers, tools, and strategies for reducing waste.

Edit history:
- Initiated 2022 Sep
- Updated 2023 Apr

Hot Topic Resource Cluster: Proteins Plants & Animals (2023 Aug)

August 1, 2023May 21, 2022 by SFS Coordinator ICDA

Summary of key points in this cluster:
– Increased Interest – high protein foods have been a hot topic in relation to health of humans and Earth. Products have proliferated over the years, some achieving improvements in health of humans and Earth, and others not. – Learn – Systems vary greatly for different plant & animal proteins, some are sustainable, some are not. This leaves some work for consumers to make choices based on what they can learn about the different options. Nutrition professionals can help. – Diversity – There is a huge diversity of animal & plant proteins in the world from water, land, and air. Learn about and encourage diversity, especially species indigenous to your area. – Balance & Track – Balance animals & plants in the environment and other parts of the food system (Production – Markets – Consumption). Whenever there is an imbalance, symptoms emerge that need to be fixed. Strategies are emerging to help consumers both understand the need to balance diets and change to achieve better balance.
The SFS Toolkit also has a: – Guide on balanced diet & environment see the 2019 EAT-Lancet report on Healthy Diets from SFS.

Summary of key points in this cluster:

– Increased Interest – high protein foods have been a hot topic in relation to health of humans and Earth. Products have proliferated over the years, some achieving improvements in health of humans and Earth, and others not.

– Learn – Systems vary greatly for different plant & animal proteins, some are sustainable, some are not. This leaves some work for consumers to make choices based on what they can learn about the different options. Nutrition professionals can help.

– Diversity – There is a huge diversity of animal & plant proteins in the world from water, land, and air. Learn about and encourage diversity, especially species indigenous to your area.

– Balance & Track – Balance animals & plants in the environment and other parts of the food system (Production – Markets – Consumption). Whenever there is an imbalance, symptoms emerge that need to be fixed. Strategies are emerging to help consumers both understand the need to balance diets and change to achieve better balance.

The SFS Toolkit also has a:
– Guide on balanced diet & environment see the 2019 EAT-Lancet report on Healthy Diets from SFS.

Recent resources in the ICDA SFS Toolkit:

Meat: The Four Futures (2023) – A podcast series by TABLE and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), via the SLU Future Food platform. The series aims to bring us together on a journey where we can examine our past and our future, our decisions and the science that informs them. The series will explore four competing visions for meat and livestock: 1) Efficient meat 2.0, 2) Alternative “meat”, 3) Less meat, and 4) Plant-based no meat.

Strategies for reducing meat consumption within college and university settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2023 March) – In addition to demonstrating the overall value of behavior change initiatives in advancing more sustainable dining practices on college and university campuses, this study lends further insights into the merits and mechanics underlying strategically integrated approaches to dietary change.

Temerty Medicine Environmental Health Lecture Series: Health (human and planetary) and the Existential Threat of the Anthropocene (2023 Feb-Apr)
- From the March 14 session on: EAT Lancet – milk and meat with speaker Walter Willett MD, DrPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, USA. The EAT-Lancet commission found that global adoption of a flexitarian dietary pattern that could include up to about two servings per day of animal sourced foods, together with improvements in agricultural practices and reductions in food waste, would have major benefits for human health and allow us to stay within planetary boundaries. Any solution must also ensure that we rapidly shift from fossil fuels to green energy. Achieving this will require the engagement of governments at all levels, civil society, and individuals.
- From the March 21 session on: The ecological hoofprint and the trajectory of global livestock production and consumption with speaker Tony Weis PhD, a Professor in the Department of Geography and Environment at The University of Western Ontario, Canada. In 2021, the average person on earth consumed over 45 kg of meat in a world of almost 8 billion people. This picture contains huge disparities in per capita consumption between high- and low-income countries, while the fastest growth is occurring in middle-income countries. The aim of this talk is to present a framework for understanding the multidimensional burdens associated with this trajectory, and why challenging it is vital to hopes of building more sustainable, healthy, just, and humane agro-food systems.

My NutriWeb: The Truth about Plant Protein (2022 Nov 17). This 4-hour symposium held with the Alpro Foundation and is designed to bring together all professionals working across the health and food systems as well as tutors and students across the UK Ireland and Europe with the aim of addressing the latest hot topics in plant-based eating for health and the planet.

The politics of protein: examining claims about livestock, fish, ‘alternative proteins’ and sustainability. (2022 Apr) – They recommend 3 approaches for how to move beyond misleading and oversimplified claims to support meaningful change in sustainable protein-source foods. 1) Shift the focus from ‘protein transition’ to sustainable food system transition and sustainable food policies, 2) Prioritize reform pathways that deliver on all aspects of sustainability, starting at the territorial level (measure what matters, where it matters), and 3) Reclaim public resources from ‘big protein’, realign innovation pathways with the public good, and reset the debate.

WWF Consumer Meat Guides for the Baltic Region (2021) – By eating less but environmentally better meat and choosing more plant-based protein, you as a consumer can contribute to more sustainable meat consumption. These meat guides try to help consumers contribute to more sustainable meat consumption by making wise food choices that take into account nature, climate and animal welfare.

Plant-Based Meat and Dairy Substitutes as Appropriate Alternatives to Animal-Based Products? (2020) – The authors of this commentary argue that we need a greater knowledge, including the degree of processing, the nutrient profile of the individual foods, and the dietary patterns within which they are consumed. They also call for more research on the health and environmental impacts, as well as research instruments to examine these questions.

A social cost-benefit analysis of meat taxation and a fruit and vegetables subsidy for a healthy and sustainable food consumption in the Netherlands (2020 May) – This study uses a social cost-benefit analysis to estimate the impacts of three scenarios – a 15% and 30% tax on meat, and a 10% subsidy on fruit and vegetable consumption – for the year 2048 (30 years hence) in the Netherlands. The authors conclude that any of the three scenarios could decrease chronic disease prevalence and healthcare costs, improve mortality rates, improve quality of life, and lead to higher productivity levels. They also estimate costs savings from environmental benefits as well as combined environmental and health benefits to society and financial benefits.

Plant-based meat substitutes in the flexitarian age: an audit of products on supermarket shelves (2019 Oct) – There are a wide range of ingredients in these products, and they are not necessarily similar to, or healthier than meat. Guidance needs to be provided to consumers about creating healthy plant-based diets. This lack of nutritional equivalence with similar meat products could be especially problematic for those who may already not have enough of some key nutrients.

Climate Impacts of Cultured Meat and Beef Cattle (2019 Feb) – Cultured meat does not necessarily have less impact on global warming than cattle. The impact varies dependent on the production system of different ways cultured meat is produced and on different systems of producing beef.

Reducing GHG emissions while improving diet quality: exploring the potential of reduced meat, cheese and alcoholic and soft drinks consumption at specific moments during the day (2018 Feb) – The results illustrate that for this group of respondents with high diet related GHG emissions, reducing red and processed meat intake (even if only at dinner time) and reducing soft and alcoholic drink consumption throughout the day would lead to reduced diet related GHG emissions.

Comparative analysis of environmental impacts of agricultural production systems, agricultural input efficiency, and food choice (2017) – The results illustrate that environmental impacts of agricultural production systems are different depending on which systems, food, and environmental indicators are examined. The difference in environmental impacts between foods of different types is large compared to the difference between the same foods produced using different systems. For all environmental indicators and nutritional units assessed, plant-based foods have the lowest environmental impacts – even when analyzed per kilocalorie of food produced. Systems should integrate the benefits of both systems to develop more sustainable agriculture (e.g., organic’s lower use of chemical inputs, and higher yields in conventional systems).

Meat alternatives: life cycle assessment of most known meat substitutes (2015) – This article compares the environmental impacts of different meat substitutes. Multiple environmental impacts were measured, and assessed by weight (kilograms), energy (kilojoules) and protein (grams). The authors estimated impacts from the stage of raw resources to (including) consumer use. One of the key objectives of meat substitutes is to lower environmental impact compared to that of livestock. Across all three measures, lab grown meat and myco-protein based foods (fungus/ mushroom) had the highest impacts. After this, results depended on the unit of measurement (weight, energy, protein). The authors report that the best performers were insect and soya-based substitutes and chicken (although chicken ranked more poorly when measured by weight).

Started 2022 May, updated 2023 August