Understanding Sustainable Diets: A descriptive analysis of the determinants and processes that influence diets and their impact on health, food security and environmental sustainability Authors: Jessica Johnston, MPA, Jessica Fanzo, PhD, Bruce Cogill, PhD, Workplace, city and country: Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Health MDG Financing and Malaria, New York, United States; Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University, New York, United States; Bioversity International, Rome, Italy Poster Reference Number: 3428 Background and Objectives: Methods: Results: Conclusions: Global dietary patterns have changed dramatically in just one generation, presenting both a boom and a threat to the health and wellbeing of populations everywhere. Today, people are overeating foods that pose the greatest negative impacts for their health and the environment. The confluence of population, economic development, environmental pressures resulting from increased globalization and industrialization reveal an increasingly resourceconstrained world where all the predictions point to the need to do more with less and in a “better” way. Sustainable diets present an opportunity to successfully advance commitments to sustainable development and the elimination of poverty, food insecurity and poor health outcomes. The study examines three broad determinants of sustainable diets: social-economic, health, and environmental. A descriptive analysis of these areas was delineated and a causal model was established. The study also examined the considerations and tradeoffs for developing and promoting innovative strategies for understanding, measuring and promoting sustainable diets in human health and nutrition. The major determinants of sustainable diets fall into five categories: Agriculture, Health, Socio-cultural, Environmental, and Socio-Economic. Agricultural production and processing systems that seek to feed an ever growing global population through a more modernized and globalized food system are at the same time a major force threatening environmental sustainability and future possibilities of feeding future generations. Meanwhile, good health is directly and indirectly influenced by agriculture. Increases in agricultural production may present opportunities for economic gains, however, they can be offset by losses in health if those increases in production yield more low nutrient and energy-rich foods that are contributing to the “double-burden” of obesity and undernutrition with their associated diseases and health issues such as diabetes, hypertension and stunting and anemia, respectively. The income level and the distribution of income of a population or a nation is also a major factor regarding the affordability of a diet. Populations with higher incomes have the ability to purchase foods of greater variety and nutritional value, however, trends reveal that, on average, the diets of these wealthier countries are becoming less healthy and rates of non- communicable diseases are rising rapidly, further demonstrating the interconnected nature of sustainable diets. Social and cultural norms play a significant role in diet as they not only serve to provide nourishment, but also to provide pleasure that is heavily influenced by social traditions. Finally, people’s dietary choices are impacted by the environment or ecosystem in which they interact with food, such as urban versus rural settings as well the marketing of particular products. When factors or processes are changed in one category, such changes affect other determinant categories, and in turn the level of “sustainability” of a diet. There are tradeoffs that are made within the system including the consumption of foods that are affordable, culturally appropriate and nutritious, yet may be harmful to environmental sustainability. The complex web of the determinants of a sustainable diet make it challenging for policy makers to understand the benefits and considerations for promoting and consuming such diets. To advance this movement, measurement mechanisms must be developed to assess the various determinants and understand the level of sustainability of a diet, and the trade-offs associated with recommendations to increase the “sustainability” of a particular diet. Keywords: diet, sustainable development, consumer behavior, food policy, nutrition, food system The key components, determinants, factors and processes of a Sustainable Diet. Adapted from Lairon 2012.