SYSTEMS TRANSITION
The Sustainable Food Systems transition
The Sustainable Food Systems transition 165 Japanese diet, and the traditional diets of many
indigenous peoples.16 However, in general urban-ization and globalurban-ization is driving trends towards unhealthy and unsustainable diets.17
Currently, some 30% of food produced is not consumed, either because it does not reach the markets and rots (the predominant cause of losses in developing countries), or because it is not eaten and is thrown away (the predominant cause of losses in developed countries).18 Reducing food losses and waste would bring substantial benefits with few negative trade-offs.
Impacts of food systems are often experienced in countries far from where the food is consumed, due to the increased globalization of food supply chains.19 Food supply chains also have significant impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem services and climate through sourcing, transport and processing.20
Healthy diets are unaffordable to many people, costing on average five times more than diets that meet only dietary energy needs.21 At the same time, cheap food has many hidden costs for health, the environment and the economy, and current food systems show a number of ‘lock-ins’ or path dependency.22
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Key components of the transition
Healthy and sustainable diets and reduced waste can be promoted through a number of measures, as summarized below.23 These measures may be more effective in combination.24 Given that social norms, especially within peer groups, are more important in changing behaviour than knowledge of health and environmental benefits, social movements are also important to effect change.25
rebAlAnce AgriculturAl policies And incentives towards more nutrition-sensitive investment and policy actions all along the food supply chain, to reduce food losses and enhance efficiencies at all stages.
promote the AvAilAbility of heAlthy And sustAinAble diets. This entails realignment of producer subsidies and adjustment of agricul-tural policies towards production practices that are sustainable, more nutrition-sensitive and improve animal welfare (see Sustainable Agriculture Transition); promoting sustainable food supply chains to reduce food losses and enhance efficiencies at all stages; and adjusting trade policy to promote sustainability.
promote Access to heAlthy And sustAinAble diets including through:
realignment of consumer subsidies, and adjust-ments in pricing and tax policy; income support and social protection programmes to increase the purchasing power and affordability of healthy diets by the most vulnerable populations; improving food markets, particularly for fresh fruits and vegetables and especially in disadvantaged areas;
public procurement and school meals programmes;
and requirements to offer healthy and sustainable choices in food outlets.
promote the consumption of heAlthy And sustAinAble diets, including through official public information campaigns and social media, food standards, labelling requirements for health and environmental impacts, advertising guide-lines or rules, product placing, public procurement, and updating and promotion of food-based dietary guidelines in line with the latest health advice while taking into account sustainability criteria.
promote meAsures to reduce food wAste, including through public information campaigns, changes in labelling of ‘best before’ dates, regulation or incentives for companies to report on food loss and waste. Improvements in technology and infra-structure, particularly in relation to the harvesting, storing and transportation of food would also help to reduce waste.
encourAge businesses to promote sustAin-Ability through supply chAins And to redesign product portfolios based on human and planetary health.
Progress towards the transition
Awareness of the negative impacts of unsustainable food demand is growing rapidly in many countries.
Options for healthy food choices with reduced meat content, vegetarian or vegan ingredients have become much more mainstream and available to consumers in response to this awareness. The impact of food waste is also increasingly recognized, generating innovative solutions to prevent unnec-essary purchase of food that will be discarded or allowed to spoil, and campaigns to prevent waste of food that remains unsold due to cosmetic imper-fections. Some countries have adopted ambitious policies to cut food waste. In Norway, for example, five ministries and twelve food industry organi-zations signed a binding agreement to halve food
The Sustainable Food Systems transition 167 waste across the food value chain by 2030. Between
2010 and 2016, food waste in Norway was reduced by 14%.26
The dietary guidelines developed by many countries promote recommendations for healthy diets, many of which, if widely applied, would reduce environmental impacts. 27 For example, the official guidelines of Brazil, Sweden and Qatar recommend consumption of more fruits and vegetables and less meat, particularly red meat.28 China’s 2017 Guidelines strongly advise the selection of fish, poultry and eggs as a source of protein over red meats, emphasize seasonal vegetables and fruits, which are more likely to be grown locally, and discourage food waste as one of their core recommendations, noting that “frugality is a virtue in Chinese culture”.29
Some linkages with other transitions Agriculture: contributes to reduced production needs through lower demand for meat and avoided waste, and thus indirectly to the Land and Forest, Climate Action
and Freshwater transitions; depends on more diverse and nutritious diets from sustainable agriculture
cities And infrAstructure: depends on a new urbanization vision, including more sustainable supply chains and reduced food waste measures, and innovations such as urban gardens and city farms
fisheries And oceAns: depends on sustainable fishing and healthy marine ecosystems to provide the seafood content of healthy diets
freshwAter: depends on healthy fresh-water ecosystems to provide nutrition derived from freshwater fish and other biodiversity in inland waters
one heAlth: contributes to improved nutrition, thus reinforcing the connec-tions between biodiversity and health
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