Sustainability has many definitions that vary by discipline and culture. We provide here a few concepts that may help you.
Commonly, we think of achieving sustainability as human development that balances environment, society, and the economy in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Netukulimk is the Mi’kmaw (First Nations, Canada) concept for “the use of the natural bounty provided by the Creator for the self-support and well-being of the individual and the community at large.” In this case, community refers to the interconnectedness of all things—land, animals, water, human beings, plants, customs, laws. For Mi’kmaw, this understanding comes out of wejisqalia’timk, which means literally “we sprouted from the earth” and this speaks to the generations and generations of Mi’kmaw who have lived in Mi’kma’ki. Sable, T. & Francis, B., 2012, p. 17.
These definitions are helpful to envision sustainability, but it becomes much more complex when we begin to dig into the details of how to achieve that.
Below are three videos (4-10 minutes) that help explain sustainability using natural science. The videos are from Sustainability Illustrated (where you will find many more!). The links here are for the English videos but are also available in French. Please, have a look at each one. There is some repetition, but that is good for learning!
After watching the 3 videos above, reflect on the following questions. Remember that there are no “correct” answers to these questions, and your responses will likely change over time as you learn about sustainability.
1 – Describe sustainability. Use words appropriate as if you are explaining it to a colleague at work.
2 – What makes something (an action, a thing, a process) sustainable, or not sustainable?
3 – Describe the four principles of sustainability. Use words appropriate as if you are explaining it to a colleague at work.
4 – Describe the five principles of social sustainability. Use words appropriate as if you are explaining it to a colleague at work.
1.3 Keep Learning (optional)
1 – Discuss with colleagues about what sustainability means to them.
2 – If you enjoyed learning about sustainability using this lens and want a much more in-depth exploration, you could look at other resources and other ways of understanding sustainability before moving on:
Check out our list of Sustainability Courses. Most listed are free, but certificates and longer university courses often have fees attached, which we try to identify clearly in the links.
If you need more content about social sustainability, you can explore the two posts below.
Have you heard of the” Triple Bottom Line?” watch this 4-minute video to understand how this framework can be helpful in expanding your ability to talk to others about sustainability.
This Toolkit is made to be used & shared - feel free! Please cite the authors of the resources (and the ICDA SFS Toolkit if you can). Feedback? Questions? Ideas? Contact the ICDA SFS Coordinator: ICDAsfs.coordinator@acadiau.ca
Food systems are complex and dynamic systems. In the Glossary you will find this definition used by Canadian Dietitians: “Food systems are complex, non-linear, systems… that embrace all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructure, institutions, markets, and trade) and activities …[of] production, processing, distribution, marketing, preparation, and consumption of food and the outputs of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes.”
Food systems are inseparable from the environment on which they depend, and the people who shape them. For example, Andean peoples, the Indigenous inhabitants of the Central Andes in South America, consider food systems to be deeply interconnected with their environment and cultural identity. Their agricultural practices, which have evolved over millennia, include paying tribute to Pachamama (Mother Earth), emphasizing sustainable land use and the relationship between the land, environment, and their culture. (Read more about Pachamama Day on the Cusco Peru website). Similarly, the Sámi, a group of people Indigenous to what is now called Europe, consider food and food systems as interconnected with broader cultural and geographic contexts. Tervo, et al. (2022) emphasize that … “…traditional Sami food and livelihoods relate to the natural environment and are part of their way of life; they are interlinked with the Sami people’s identity and dignity…”
Thinking of food systems as complex systems is very helpful in the context of sustainability.
2.1. Watch (4 minutes)
Start by watching the short video below to explore the concept of food systems.
Note that although waste is listed as a stage of the food system, food loss & waste happens at several stages of the food system.
In this section, we encourage you to read the Building Block “What are Food Systems” published online by TABLE. It is about 6 pages of content and should take less than an hour to read.
At the end of the document, you will find many “recommend resources” and “references” that you can explore. Note that a few of the links are outdated as of 2024, but many are still good.
After reading, reflect on the following questions.
1 – Describe a food system. Use words appropriate as if you were explaining it to a colleague at work.
2 – Why is it helpful to think of food systems as complex systems?
3 – Based on the videos and readings, how would you personally define a food system?
4 – Using the “Nourish Food System Map” from the reading as a guide, what roles do you have in the food system as an individual, and as a nutrition and dietetics professional?
The Indigenous Food Systems Network: Thiswebsite includes various videos, stories, and tools related to Indigenous food sovereignty and sustainable food practices.
This Toolkit is made to be used & shared - feel free! Please cite the authors of the resources (and the ICDA SFS Toolkit if you can). Feedback? Questions? Ideas? Contact the ICDA SFS Coordinator: ICDAsfs.coordinator@acadiau.ca
There are many food systems, and they could be thought of as subsystems to the larger complex system that you learned about in the previous section. Some aspects of food systems are more sustainable, and some are less sustainable. However, the overall outcomes (widespread malnutrition, food insecurity, and negative impacts) of food systems are not sustainable.
3.1. Watch(4 minutes)
Watch this short video from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). It provides a very simple and visual outline of the social and environmental challenges that make our food systems unsustainable.
In the 1950s, the “Green Revolution” promoted synthetic seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides that prioritised quantity over quality, leading to widespread environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, human health issues, and deepening social inequality (see UNEP news article for details). In preparation for the landmark United Nations Food Systems Summit in September 2021 UNEP provided the following 9 things to know about the global food system.
The global food system is not quite the bargain it seems.
The low retail cost of industrialized food can obscure its very high environmental price tag. According to some estimates, conventional agriculture – which produces greenhouse gas emissions, pollutes air and water, and destroys wildlife – costs the environment about $3 trillion every year (link to trucost.com). Externalized costs, such as the funds required to purify contaminated drinking water or to treat diseases related to poor nutrition, are also unaccounted for by the industry, meaning that communities and taxpayers may be picking up the tab without realizing it.
The global food system can facilitate the spread of viruses from animals to humans.
While their genetic diversity provides animals with natural disease resistance, intensive livestock farming can produce genetic similarities within flocks and herds. This makes animals more susceptible to pathogens, and when they are kept in close proximity, viruses can then spread easily among them. Intensive livestock farming can also serve as a bridge for pathogens, allowing them to jump from wild animals to farm animals and then to humans.
The global food system has been linked to zoonotic diseases.
Clearing forests to make space for agriculture and moving farms nearer to urban centres can destroy the natural buffers that protect humans from viruses circulating among wildlife. According to aUnited Nations Environment Programme assessment, climate change and the rising demand for animal protein are also affecting the emergence of what are known as zoonotic diseases – pathogens that can jump from animals to people and vice versa.
The global food system fosters antimicrobial resistance.
The global food system’s use of pesticides may be sickening people.
Large volumes of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used to increase agricultural yields and humans may be exposed to these potentially-toxic pesticides through the food they consume, resulting in adverse health effects. Some pesticides have been proven to act as endocrine disruptors, potentially affecting reproductive functions, increasing the incidence of breast cancer, causing abnormal growth patterns and developmental delays in children, and altering immune function.
The global food system contaminates water and soil and affects human health.
Agriculture plays a major role in pollution, releasing large volumes of manure, chemicals, antibiotics, and growth hormones into water sources. This poses risks to both aquatic ecosystems and human health. In fact, agriculture’s most common chemical contaminant, nitrate, can cause “blue baby syndrome”, which can kill infants.
The global food system has been blamed for epidemics of obesity and chronic disease.
Industrial agriculture produces mainly commodity crops, which are then used in a wide variety of inexpensive, calorie-dense, and widely available foods. Consequently, 60 per cent of all dietary energy is derived from just 3 cereal crops– rice, maize and wheat. Although it has effectivelylowered the proportion of people suffering from hunger, this calorie-based approach fails to meet nutritional recommendations, such as those for the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and pulses. The popularity of processed, packaged, and prepared foods has increased in almost all communities. Worldwide, obesity is also on the rise and many suffer from preventable diseases often related to diet, like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and some cancers.
Some 60 per cent of all dietary energy is derived from just 3 cereal crops – rice, maize and wheat. Photo by Johny Gorend/Unsplash
The global food system is an inefficient use of land.
Intensive livestock farming can also serve as a bridge for pathogens, allowing them to jump from wild animals to farm animals and then to humans. Photo by Nighthawk Shoots/Unsplash
The global food system entrenches inequality.
Although small farms make up 72 per cent of all farms, they occupy just 8 per cent of all agricultural land. In contrast, large farms – which account for only 1 per cent of the world’s farms – occupy 65 per cent of agricultural land. This gives large farms disproportionate control, and there is little incentive to develop technologies that could benefit resource-poor small-hold farmers, including those in developing countries. At the other end of the food supply chain, food that is affordable to the poor may be energy-dense but is often nutrient-poor. Micronutrient deficiencies may impair cognitive development, lower resistance to disease, increase risks during childbirth and, ultimately, affect economic productivity. The poor are effectively disadvantaged both as producers and consumers.
3.3. Reflect (20 minutes)
After watching the video and reading this chapter, reflect on the following questions.
Describe how climate change is impacting food systems, and how food systems are impacting climate change.
Describe how food systems (including human diets) are impacting, and are impacted by 2-3 other environmental challenges (e.g., biodiversity).
Describe how food systems (including human diets) are impacting social sustainability. If needed, review the “Five Principles of Sustainability” video above. For example, how do they impact human health and inequality?
With natural resources under pressure, how can individual consumers and communities contribute to preserving these resources through their food choices?
Try and think of two ways that the challenges you described above (in questions 1-3) are directly impacting your community.
This Toolkit is made to be used & shared - feel free! Please cite the authors of the resources (and the ICDA SFS Toolkit if you can). Feedback? Questions? Ideas? Contact the ICDA SFS Coordinator: ICDAsfs.coordinator@acadiau.ca
The Center for Biological Diversity released an analysis of the dietary guidelines of the G20 countries that found the United States has fallen behind in including sustainability. The analysis found that most G20 nations include sustainability goals and recommendations to reduce meat and/or increase plant-based foods. But the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, also known as the DGA, does not consider dietary impacts on the environment or recommend reduced meat consumption, though animal agriculture is a major driver of climate change and biodiversity loss.
While G20 nations have taken the lead, fewer than half of national dietary guidelines around the world include environmental sustainability. But that number has been rapidly growing over the past 10 years, with an increase in recommendations to reduce meat consumption and an emphasis on plant-based diets. Aligning dietary guidelines with sustainability goals is particularly important in G20 countries, where the current per capita consumption of meat and dairy is higher than the global average.
It challenges the prevailing narrative that increasing production is synonymous with higher emissions and environmental degradation. Instead, it emphasizes the opportunity within agrifood systems to enhance production efficiency while aligning with climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience objectives.
The roadmap identifies 120 actions and key milestones within ten domains, supported by evidence gathered by FAO over several years. These domains include clean energy, crops, fisheries and aquaculture, food loss and waste, forests and wetlands, healthy diets, livestock, soil and water, and data and inclusive policies — the latter two identified as overall systemic enablers.
Concerning food and nutrition, it sets a path to eliminate chronic undernourishment by 2030 and ensure access to healthy diets for all by 2050. Additional milestones include halving per capita global food waste by 2030 and updating Food-based dietary guidelines (FBSG) by countries to provide context-appropriate quantitative recommendations on dietary patterns.
The roadmap also emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between agrifood systems transformation and climate actions, urging the mobilization of climate finance for implementation.
Highlighting a just transition at its core, the roadmap envisions transforming agrifood systems from a net emitter to a carbon sink. It calls for alternative production methods, adjusted consumption patterns, refined forestry management, and innovative technologies such as carbon capture.
Advocating for global resource optimization beyond crop production, the plan suggests rebalancing consumption patterns and promoting healthy diets for all. It stresses that adaptability to specific contexts is crucial, cautioning against one-size-fits-all solutions.
The process, unveiled at the United Nations Climate Conference COP28 as a concrete package of solutions, will undergo extensive fine-tuning and elaboration over the next three years. COP29 will delve into regional adaptation and financial options, while COP30 will outline concrete investment and policy packages at the country level.
Carvajal Useche KC, Rangel Palacio N, Carlsson L. Sustainability and food systems concepts in dietetic training standards in speaking Spanish countries. Rev Esp Nutr Hum Diet. 2023; 27(4): 315-24. doi: https://doi.org/10.14306/renhyd.27.4.1939 (open source)
Follow the link to read the full article in both Spanish and English.
Key Messages
Four Spanish-speaking nations include at least partial coverage of sustainable food systems dimensions in their dietetic training and practice standards: Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru. This is 66% of those for which standards exist, and similar to international content.
Mexican and Peruvian standards require robust commitment to social and environmental sustainability in practice (values). Mexican education is guided by relatively low level of cognitive complexity (knowledge of, “understand”); Peruvian practice standards required a higher level (up to “create”).
The standards in Paraguay and Colombia contribute to food systems sustainability competence through primarily food and nutrition security-related standards, concepts inseparable from sustainable food systems. Colombia explicitly recognizes the purview of nutritionists as throughout food systems (production to consumption).
Opportunities exist for increasing the focus on food systems sustainability as a guiding paradigm for food and nutrition work, in the context of urgent global priorities to climate change and sustainable development.
Abstract
Introduction: Global calls for action to support sustainable development through food systems and nutrition provide context to examine to what degree nutrition and dietetics professionals are equipped for this challenge. The purpose of this research is to investigate content related to sustainable food systems in training standards from Spanish-speaking countries and examine what level of knowledge is required.
Methodology: Researchers conducted a content analysis of documents informing nutrition and dietetics training standards for content related to sustainable food systems, including dimensions of these complex topics. Relevant content was then analyzed according to the level of cognitive complexity per Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy.
Results: Of 21 eligible countries, documents describing competencies, standards or codes of ethics were found for six, four of which included relevant standards: Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru. Overall, there was minimal comprehensive inclusion of sustainable food systems, but partial inclusion of one or more important sustainability dimensions. These were required at a mix of levels of cognitive complexity.
Conclusions: This research adds to a small body of evidence documenting the state of readiness of nutrition and dietetics professionals to contribute to sustainable development. It highlights a moderate level of readiness in four Spanish-speaking countries, and opportunities for increased emphasis on comprehensive sustainability-informed education and training standards, which can help prepare practitioners for effective practice.
The global agrifood system has been largely overlooked in the fight against climate change. Yet, greenhouse gas emissions from the agrifood system are so big that they alone could cause the world to miss the goal of keeping global average temperatures from rising above 1.5 centigrade compared to preindustrial levels. Greenhouse gas emissions from agrifood must be cut to net zero by 2050 to achieve this goal.
Recipe for a Livable Planet: Achieving Net Zero Emissions in the Agrifood System offers the first comprehensive global strategic framework to mitigate the agrifood system’s contributions to climate change, detailing affordable and readily available measures that can cut nearly a third of the world’s planet heating emissions while ensuring global food security.
These actions, which are urgently needed, offer three additional benefits: improving food supply reliability, strengthening the global food system’s resilience to climate change, and safeguarding vulnerable populations.
This practical guide outlines global actions and specific steps that countries at all income levels can take starting now, focusing on six key areas: investments, incentives, information, innovation, institutions, and inclusion.
Calling for collaboration among governments, businesses, citizens, and international organizations, it maps a pathway to making agrifood a significant contributor to addressing climate change and healing the planet.
Bezner Kerr, R., Madsen, S., Stüber, M., Liebert, J., Mazibuko, H., Funnel, K., … & Wezel, A. (2021). Can agroecology improve food security and nutrition? A review. Global Food Security, 29, 100540. (paid access)
Highlights
56 agroecology studies had evidence for food security & nutrition (FSN) outcomes.
78% of studies showed positive FSN outcomes from agroecological practices.
Key agroecological practices are crop diversity, organic soil amendments, and agroforestry.
Farmer networks and attention to social equity dimensions were important.
Increased complexity of agroecological system more positively associated with FSN.
Abstract
Agroecology increasingly has gained scientific and policy recognition as having potential to address environmental and social issues within food production, but concerns have been raised about its implications for food security and nutrition, particularly in low-income countries.
This review paper examines recent evidence (1998–2019) for whether agroecological practices can improve human food security and nutrition. A total of 11,771 articles were screened by abstract and title, 275 articles included for full review, with 56 articles (55 cases) selected.
A majority of studies (78%) found evidence of positive outcomes in the use of agroecological practices on food security and nutrition of households in low and middle-income countries. Agroecological practices included crop diversification, intercropping, agroforestry, integrating crop and livestock, and soil management measures.
More complex agroecological systems, that included multiple components (e.g., crop diversification, mixed crop-livestock systems and farmer-to-farmer networks) were more likely to have positive food security and nutrition outcomes.
The Food System Economics Commission (FSEC) is an independent academic commission that equips political and economic decision makers with tools and evidence to shift food and land use systems. Patterns of how and where people meet and eat have evolved to provide fast, cheap food that relies on a harmful transnational industrial food system. This trend has implications for health, resilience and agricultural sustainability. Dietary change is crucial to reverse the global impact on health, longevity, and the environment.
The FSEC calls for a global dietary transformation by 2050, emphasizing the need for healthier, more sustainable food consumption patterns. The recommended shift involves increasing intake of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes while reducing consumption of animal-source foods, sugar, and vegetable oils. This transformation could yield remarkable benefits: potentially saving 174 million lives, significantly reducing diet-related non-communicable diseases, and addressing environmental challenges.
FSEC modelling emphasizes that fostering a healthy food environment is biophysically feasible and the most powerful strategy to improve human and planetary well-being.
Regionally tailored approaches are crucial, with variations like increased legume consumption in China and potential meat intake improvements in sub-Saharan Africa. The proposed changes are not just nutritionally sound but economically beneficial and environmentally critical, potentially helping meet the 1.5°C climate target by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preserving habitats, and mitigating land and water resource pressures. Implementing this transformation requires a coordinated strategy involving incentives, regulation, innovation, and investment, ultimately aiming to ensure global access to healthy, culturally appropriate diets while respecting ecological and cultural diversity.
Tagtow A, Herman D, Cunningham-Sabo L. Next-generation solutions to address adaptive challenges in dietetics practice: the I+PSE conceptual framework for action. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2022; 122(1): 15-24.
This article focuses on Applications for Professional Practice. The following is taken from the introduction to the article:
“It describes the Individual plus Policy, System, and Environmental (I+PSE) Conceptual Framework for Action (known as the “Framework”) as a roadmap for RDNs across all areas of practice (eg, research, education, clinical, community, and management) to better address adaptive challenges and to formulate multidimensional strategies for optimal impact. The Framework has cross-cutting practice implications for all areas of dietetics practice and can lead to the next generation of solutions to tackle adaptive challenges that better support nutrition and health.
The I+PSE Conceptual Framework for Action (see Figure) is a blueprint for RDNs and their partners to develop and implement multidimensional strategies using a systems orientation to achieve greater responsiveness to adaptive challenges and realize greater impacts.
Phase 1 –
Once an adaptive challenge is identified, RDNs can apply a determinants of health lens (Figure, phase 1) to closely examine nutrition and health problems and better identify why problems are worsening despite best efforts to solve them. The result of this focused assessment is a stronger diagnosis of the root causes that supports strategic decision-making in phase 2.
Phase 2 –
Is the formation of coordinated multidimensional strategies that produce a sustainable and synergistic effect.
Phase 3 –
Is the evaluation of outcomes and impacts of the suite of strategies and the degree to which change has occurred at the individual, practice, program, organizational, policy, and population levels. Encircling the Framework is systems thinking and reflection to support an iterative cycle of robust assessment, planning, implementation, and impact evaluation. The Framework is versatile and can be adapted to a wide range of nutrition issues, areas of dietetics practice, and diverse partnerships.”
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