Future cattle production: Animal welfare as a critical component of sustainability and beef quality, a South American perspective.

The demand for animal protein is rising, increasing pressure on animal production systems and ecological resources. Ethical and environmental concerns are also growing worldwide, pushing for more sustainable food production systems. The international scientific community has raised concerns about misinformation regarding meat production processes and their harmful impact on the environment, animal welfare and human health consumption. It is crucial to provide accurate information based on science, implement an active communication strategy, and foster collaboration across the meat supply chain to demonstrate that livestock farming is part of the solution to climate change and sustainability issues. As a fundamental pillar of sustainability, animal welfare plays a crucial role in this scrutiny. The "social license to farm" hinges on animal welfare issues and those related to climate change, the environment and biodiversity. Animal welfare is gaining relevance in the market of farm animals and their products, shaping a nation's standing in the international community. Considering the potential advantages of the Southern cone of South America production systems regarding sustainability and animal welfare, several countries prioritise them in their science, technology transfer, innovation, and public policy agendas. Scientific research indicates that implementing effective animal handling and welfare practices has a demonstrably positive impact on individual animal temperament, the quality of the human-animal relationship, overall productivity, and meat quality while reducing the risks of accidents. Caring for the welfare of animals is not only a moral imperative but can also be a business decision that benefits all stakeholders.

Development of the Local Food Systems Policy Index (Local Food-EPI+) tool and assessment process to benchmark the implementation of local government policies for creating healthy, equitable and environmentally sustainable food systems.

OBJECTIVE: Local governments have an important role to play in creating healthy, equitable and environmentally sustainable food systems. This study aimed to develop and pilot a tool and process for local governments in Australia to benchmark their policies for creating healthy, equitable and environmentally sustainable food systems. DESIGN: The Healthy Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI), developed in 2013 for national governments, was tailored to develop the Local Food Systems Policy Index (Local Food-EPI+) tool for local governments. To incorporate environmental sustainability and the local government context, this process involved a literature review and collaboration with an international and domestic expert advisory committee (n 35) and local government officials. SETTING: Local governments. RESULTS: The tool consists of sixty-one indicators across ten food policy domains (weighted based on relative importance): leadership; governance; funding and resources; monitoring and intelligence; food production and supply chain; food promotion; food provision and retail in public facilities and spaces; supermarkets and food sources in the community; food waste reuse, redistribution and reduction; and support for communities. Pilot implementation of the tool in one local government demonstrated that the assessment process was feasible and likely to be helpful in guiding policy implementation. CONCLUSION: The Local Food-EPI+ tool and assessment process offer a comprehensive mechanism to assist local governments in benchmarking their actions to improve the healthiness, equity and environmental sustainability of food systems and prioritise action areas. Broad use of this tool will identify and promote leading practices, increase accountability for action and build capacity and collaborations.

Sustainability requires the integration of farmer knowledge, scientific advancements, and comprehensive innovation.

This viewpoint paper emphasises the need to diversify food production methods to simultaneously combat hunger and reduce environmental problems. The recommendations of the UN Food System Summit 2021 relate primarily to (i) the conservation of natural ecosystems, (ii) the sustainable management of existing agricultural land while increasing productivity and (iii) the restoration of already degraded land. Europe in particular faces unique challenges, such as reducing pollution and promoting organic farming up to 25 percent of the agricultural land area while maintaining food production. Ongoing efforts aim to create a transparent, fair and multi-level regulatory framework to support the Green Deal. The implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which will sooner or later affect a larger proportion of European farmers, should support the transition. Science and innovation play a central role in this, as they are the cornerstones on which sustainable food systems are built. It is imperative that farmers actively participate in the co-design processes and utilise their wealth of experience and creativity to drive these innovations forward. A crucial aspect of the transition to sustainability is changing consumption patterns to limit food waste and reduce meat consumption. While this transition is essential, it is not without its formidable challenges. Diversification of agriculture, encompassing a spectrum of established techniques, is touted as a promising approach to achieving sustainability without sacrificing productivity. Furthermore, integrating truly sustainable agricultural practices with cutting-edge innovations, including new genomic techniques, has the potential to be a transformative solution.

Antibiotic Resistance Genes in Global Food Transformation System: Edible Insects vs. Livestock.

Antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) pose a significant threat to the global food transformation system. The increasing prevalence of ARGs in food has elicited apprehension about public health safety. The widespread dissemination of ARGs in food products, driven by the inappropriate use of antibiotics, presents significant adversity for the safety of emerging future food sources such as edible insects. As the world faces increasing challenges related to food security, climate change, and antibiotic resistance, edible insects offer a sustainable and resilient food source. The intriguing possibility of edible insects serving as a less conducive environment for ARGs compared to livestock warrants further exploration and investigation. In this recent work, we listed ARGs from edible insects detected so far by in vitro approaches and aimed to construct a fair comparison with ARGs from livestock based on relevant genes. We also presented our argument by analyzing the factors that might be responsible for ARG abundance in livestock vs. edible insects. Livestock and edible insects have diverse gut microbiota, and their diets differ with antibiotics. Consequently, their ARG abundance may vary as well. In addition, processed edible insects have lower levels of ARGs than raw ones. We hypothesize that edible insects could potentially contain a lower abundance of ARGs and exhibit a diminished ability to disseminate ARGs relative to livestock. A regulatory framework could help intercept the increasing prevalence of ARGs. Due diligence should also be taken when marketing edible insects for consumption.

A Holistic Framework for Evaluating Food Loss and Waste Due to Marketing Standards across the Entire Food Supply Chain.

This paper addresses the critical and urgent need to reduce food losses and waste (FLW) resulting from stringent marketing standards. It proposes a comprehensive and actionable framework grounded in the three pillars of sustainability-environmental, economic, and social-to effectively evaluate FLW across the entire food supply chain. The paper involves a thorough review of existing marketing standards, including research on FLW due to marketing standards, and proposes the implementation of targeted key actions within four key food sectors: fruits, vegetables, dairy, and cereals. The study provides a detailed analysis of the significant impact marketing standards have on FLW at various stages of the supply chain, including primary production, processing, retail, and consumption. By focusing on these critical points, the research underscores the necessity of addressing marketing standards to achieve meaningful reductions in FLW. The proposed framework aims to foster improved business practices and drive the development of innovative, sector-specific solutions that balance sustainability goals with economic viability. The holistic approach followed for this research lays the foundation for ensuring that the proposed framework is adaptable and practical, leading to measurable improvements in reducing FLW and promoting sustainability across the food industry.

Monitoring the Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet within Countries: Building Systems in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Viet Nam.

Background: Governments around the world collect food price data on a frequent basis, often monthly, for the purpose of monitoring inflation. These routine economic data can be used with a nutrition-sensitive lens for understanding economic access to a healthy diet. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has adopted the cost and affordability of a healthy diet (CoAHD) for annual tracking alongside other food security indicators. This indicator is relevant in many countries for informed decision-making and accountability toward Food Systems Summit pathways. National governments may wish to include this indicator in their own monitoring systems, using existing subnational price and income data. Objectives: We describe emerging systems in several countries for monitoring CoAHD and analytical tools that facilitate the calculation of CoAHD. We discuss reasons why the indicator may differ when calculated using subnational data compared with the global monitoring system and how to interpret differences. Methods: Between June 2016 and February 2024, 19 workshops were held in 7 countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Viet Nam), where stakeholder discussions covered sources of food price data, institutions involved, policy uses, and direct training in calculation of CoAHD. Food price data collected by national organizations were used to calculate CoAHD in partnership with government agencies. Results: Calculating CoAHD using subnational data uses the same methods across settings, but the mechanisms for monitoring and dissemination are different in each country, illustrating heterogeneity in how the metric can most effectively be incorporated within existing structures. Results from national and global monitoring systems have expected differences based on data sources, healthy diet standards, and affordability standards. Conclusions: CoAHD can be calculated with existing data and resources, facilitated by new software tools and user tutorials. In the future, it can be further streamlined, leveraging technical assistance from global institutions and aligning national and global monitoring systems.

Carbon and Energy Footprinting across Archetypes for U.S. Maple Syrup Production.

The production of maple syrup from sap requires extensive processing, which has traditionally led to significant energy inputs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per gallon produced. Technology advancements, e.g., vacuum tubing sap collection systems, reverse osmosis (RO), and electric evaporators have changed the way syrup is produced, resulting in widespread variability in processing equipment and sugar-making operational decisions. This paper evaluates these complex operations through a cradle-to-retail gate carbon footprinting model and by capturing variability in a series of producer archetypes. By isolating energy and emissions impacts, we find that implementing RO has the largest reduction effect on energy (54-77%) and emissions (57-82%), depending on both production size and evaporator fuel (wood, fuel-oil, or electricity). Results also demonstrate the effect of production scale on cumulative energy demand (CED) and emissions per gallon of syrup, with small producers ranging from 333-1,425 MJ/gal and 27-118 kg CO2e/gal (61-90% biogenic on-site) for wood-fired operations and 18-65 kg CO2e/gal for oil-fired operations. Large producers ranged from 90-131 MJ and 3.5-7 kg CO2e/gal (electricity to oil-fired operations). Producers of all scales with the highest rates of electrification in their operations have the lowest GHG emissions and energy use per gallon of syrup produced.

Food systems for long-term spaceflight: Understanding the role of non-nutrient polyphenols in astronauts' health.

Background: Manned space exploration missions have developed at a rapid pace, with missions to Mars likely to be in excess of 1000 days being planned for the next 20 years. As such, it is important to understand and address the challenges that astronauts face, such as higher radiation exposure, altered gravity, and isolation. Meanwhile, until now the formulation of space food systems has not focused on non-nutrients, and has not considered issues arising from their absence during space missions or the possibility of them to solve the challenges caused by space hazards. Aims: This study investigates, by systematic review, current space food systems and the potential for non-nutrients, such as flavonoids and polyphenols, to counteract radiation- and low gravity-induced degeneration of bone, vision, muscle strength, immune function and cognition. Results and discussion: A systematic approach found 39 related animal model studies, and that polyphenol dietary interventions have been shown to mitigate radiation-related physiological problems and cognitive decline, as well as reduce the implications of radiotherapy. From the results of these studies, it appears that berry extracts have a significant effect on preventing cognitive problems through attenuating the expression of NADPH-oxidoreductase-2 (NOX2) and cycloocygenase-2 (COX2) in both frontal cortex and hippocampus and immune system problems caused by radiation similar to that experienced in space. For physiological problems like alteration of blood-testicular barrier permeability and oxidative stress in kidney and liver caused by gamma rays and X-rays, various polyphenol compounds including resveratrol and tea polyphenols have a certain degree of protective effect like enhancing metabolism of heart and decreasing DNA damage respectively. Due to the lack of quantitative studies and the limited number of relevant studies, it is impossible to compare which polyphenol compounds are more effective. Only one study showed no difference in the performances of a blueberry extract-fed group and a control group exposed to Fe irradiation after 12 months. Conclusion: In conclusion, current animal studies have shown that polyphenols can mitigate radiation damage to some extent, but more research is needed to enable the application of a polyphenol diet to actual space flights.

Sustainable food systems under environmental footprints: The delicate balance from farm to table.

In today's world, agriculture is not only about food production but also a critical factor in global environmental change, economic stability, and human health, among other aspects. With population growth and increasingly scarce resources, exploring sustainable development of food systems has become crucial. Achieving this goal requires striking a delicate balance among food security, economic development, ecological environment, and human health. Traditional approaches to sustainable agricultural development research often focus solely on singular domains, overlooking the inherent connections and interactions among environmental, socioeconomic, and health dimensions. This perspective limits our comprehensive understanding of food systems. Environmental footprint assessments can be integrated with economic, systemic, and decision models to analyze environmental, socioeconomic, and health issues within food systems. This integration accurately captures the diversity, overlap, accumulation, and heterogeneity of environmental pressures resulting from human and natural factors. Therefore, we propose an innovative conceptual framework that considers environmental, socioeconomic, and health dimensions as crucial components, with the environmental footprint indicators at its core, to link various stages from farm to table. This framework constructs an evidence gap map, integrating dispersed data and perspectives from existing literature, thus showing knowledge gaps across these domains. Such an interdisciplinary approach not only provides a more comprehensive perspective on the multidimensional complexity of sustainable food systems but also reveals potential synergies and conflicts among environmental, socioeconomic, and health domains, thereby guiding more comprehensive and cautious policy-making. Importantly, it provides direction for future research to achieve the sustainable development of food systems, emphasizing the necessity of a comprehensive, integrated research perspective, particularly in strengthening studies on composited footprints, viewing the entire farm-to-table continuum holistically. Stakeholders must collaborate and coordinate environmental, socioeconomic, and health objectives to drive the sustainable development of food systems.

Food systems in protracted crises: examining indigenous food sovereignty amid de-development in Kashmir.

How do protracted crises shape indigenous food systems, and what are their ramifications for food and nutritional security? Building on decolonial and interdisciplinary research approaches, this paper assesses the consequences of militarised violence for Kashmir's food system. We document the impact of settler-colonialism and conflict-induced agrarian changes on delocalisation of diets. The protracted nature of the crises has two key implications for changes in dietary patterns. First, land control over common land dispossesses the local population and hinders food production. Second, disenfranchisement from (agricultural) land has led to increased reliance on markets that are flooded by imported foods as local production declines. The paper argues that the state plays an important role in food system changes by destroying local patterns of food production and consumption. Slow violence and agrarian de-development serve as tools to de-develop the local food system. Indigenous food cultures form part of everyday resistance and resilience that are operationalised as mitigation and adaptation strategies to address food insecurity.

Modeling the acceptance of vegetarian diets to promote sustainable food systems.

With increasing concerns about health, animal welfare, and the environment, changes in dietary patterns are emerging, as evidenced by the gradual shift toward plant-rich diets. To appropriately plan vegetarian meals with high consumer satisfaction that would help promote this dietary pattern and ultimately improve the sustainability of food systems, meal acceptability testing would be crucial. The present work aims to investigate the influence of individual food components' acceptability on the overall meal acceptability in vegetarian diets. Over four taste-testing periods, 94 panelists of US nationality recruited from Cornell University staff (47 males and 47 females; 30-50 years of age) were asked to rate the acceptability of 41 vegetarian meals containing various food category items, including a main dish, side dish, appetizer, salad, soup, bread, dessert, beverage, and a control food. Each meal included six menu items to ensure the tested foods resembled a typical meal. Consequently, some meals lacked one or more of the nine total food categories. Participants were asked to rate the acceptability of the six meal items and the overall meal acceptability on a 9-point hedonic scale. Multiple imputation was used to fill in any missing data, and multiple linear regression analysis was then performed. Through this study, a model that predicts the overall meal acceptability of vegetarian diets based on individual meal category components was developed with an R-squared value of .7033, suggesting that around 70.33% of the variation in overall meal acceptability could be explained by the nine food category predictors. The findings also suggested that the most influential food item on overall meal acceptability was the main dish followed by the side dish. For every unit increase in the acceptability score of the main dish on a 9-point hedonic scale, the overall meal acceptability increased by 0.324 points. The positive findings would be beneficial to food service providers in designing a vegetarian meal with high meal acceptability. By focusing on optimizing the acceptability of these two key categories, menu planners can effectively elevate customers' satisfaction of their meals.

Conference on 'nutrition and wellbeing in Oceania'.

Oceania is currently facing a substantial challenge: to provide sustainable and ethical food systems that support nutrition and health across land and water. The Nutrition Society of Australia and the Nutrition Society of New Zealand held a joint 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting on 'Nutrition and Wellbeing in Oceania' attended by 408 delegates. This was a timely conference focussing on nutrition challenges across the Pacific, emphasising the importance of nutrition across land and water, education settings, women's health and gut health. Cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary and collaborative research was presented in a 4-day programme of keynote presentations, workshops, oral and poster sessions, breakfast and lunch symposiums and early career researcher sessions. The conference highlighted the importance of collaboration between nations to address the challenge facing nutrition and wellbeing across Oceania. A systems approach of collaboration among scientists, industry and government is vital for finding solutions to this challenge.

Thailand - how far are we from achieving a healthy and sustainable diet? A longitudinal ecological study.

Background: Newly industrialized countries like Thailand have been influenced by globalization, westernization, and urbanization over the last decades, leading to changes in dietary habits as well as food production. Consequences of these changes include rising non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and environmental degradation, which are defined as the leading global challenges today. The objectives of this study are to identify Thailand's dietary changes, considering health and sustainability aspects, and to determine correlations between these changes and NCD cases as well as environmental impacts (GHG emissions, land-, nitrogen-, phosphorus-use). In this way, diet-related adjustments can be identified to promote planetary and human health. Methods: In this longitudinal ecological study, relative differences between the average food consumption in Thailand and the reference values of a healthy and sustainable diet, the Planetary Health Diet (PHD), were calculated. Furthermore, a bivariate correlation analysis was conducted, using data, based on Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO's) data, results from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD), and PHD's reference values. Findings: The consumption quantities of meat, eggs, saturated oils, and sugar increased significantly since 1961. The food groups, that have exceeded PHD's upper reference values, include sugar (+452%), red meat (+220%), grains (+143%), saturated oils (+20%) and eggs (+19%), while vegetables (-63%), and unsaturated oils (-61%) have fallen below PHD's lower limits. Concerning the bivariate correlation analyses, all investigated variables show significant correlations. The most significant correlations were found in NCD cases (r = 0.903, 95% CI 0.804-0.953), nitrogen use (r = 0.872, 95% CI 0.794-0.922), and land use (r = 0.870, 95% CI 0.791-0.921), followed by phosphorus use (r = 0.832, 95% CI 0.733-0.897), and green-house gas (GHG) emissions (r = 0.479, 95% CI 0.15-0.712). Interpretation: The results show, that the determined differences of unhealthy or unsustainable food groups have increased concurrently with NCD cases and environmental impacts over the last decades in Thailand. A shift towards a reduced intake of sugar, red meat, grains, saturated oils and eggs along with an increase in vegetables and unsaturated oils, might support environmental and human health. Funding: None.

Navigating household food insecurity and environmental sustainability on a low income: An exploration of Sheffield mothers.

In 2023, 25% of adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland experienced food insecurity. The concentration of food insecurity in both socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and households containing children raises concerns about its uneven nutritional and health impacts across different groups. In parallel with rising food insecurity over the past decade, concerns about the environmental consequences of human diets are intensifying, where urgent changes are needed to people's diets to avoid irreversible environmental damage. It is generally assumed that cost has a significant impact on people's ability to adopt more environmentally sustainable food practices. This UK Research Council-funded project seeks to gain insights into the ways in which low-income mothers (are able to) engage with environmentally sustainable food practices. RQ1 will examine the day-to-day food practices that mothers undertake for their families to offer insights into everyday food insecurity and the relevance of environmentally sustainable food practices. RQ2 will explore biographical experiences to highlight how mothers' life histories influence their familial food practices, including their current household food security and engagement with environmentally sustainable food practices. Finally, RQ3 will explore mothers' upcoming prospects of food insecurity and environmentally sustainable food practices. These research questions will be explored through a qualitative longitudinal, feminist study of 15 low-income mothers in Sheffield, UK, combining in-depth interviews with ethnographic elements. Gaining improved knowledge of mothers' food practices on a low income will be valuable to influence realistic, effective and meaningful philosophies, policies and practical action that prioritises equity, good nutrition and environmentally sustainable food practices.

NUS so fast: the social and ecological implications of a rapidly developing indigenous food economy in the Cape Town area.

The modern global food system is highly unsustainable, shaped by industrialisation and corporate consolidation, with negative repercussions on the environment and biodiversity as well as human health. This paper looks at the burgeoning economy in neglected and underutilised species (NUS) in the Western Cape, South Africa, as a potential innovation that could make the local food system more socially and ecologically resilient. Although, at present, NUS are only marginally included in the local food system and policy discussions, NUS increasingly appear in the high-end food industry, driven by international gastronomic trends. These species hold potential as climate resilient, nutritionally dense, and socially and culturally significant foods in the region, but they also carry ecological and social risks. We critically examine the fledgling NUS economy in the Cape Town area to unpack the motivations and challenges associated with the potentially transformative inclusion of these foods into the local food system. We demonstrate that the main risks associated with NUS are negative ecological repercussions, privatisation of the NUS economy, and the reproduction and further entrenchment of unequal power and race dynamics in the region. To mitigate these risks and actualise the related benefits associated with NUS, engagement with the ecological, social, and political context of NUS needs to be significantly deepened. This is particularly true for those working in the high-end food industry, who appear to be driving the NUS economy, and will require education around sustainability and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), as well as a foregrounding awareness of power dynamics.

The Egg Hub Model: A Sustainable and Replicable Approach to Address Food Security and Improve Livelihoods.

Background: Despite progress in improving living standards and reduced poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition remain a significant issue worldwide. Childhood is a critical time for the intake of protein to support physical and cognitive growth, including animal-source foods like eggs which can effectively mitigate stunting in low- and middle-income countries. In Malawi, high malnutrition rates among women and children represent a significant public health challenge, but high-quality sources such as eggs remain costly, scarce, and rarely consumed by children in Malawi. The Egg Hub model, identified and piloted by local agri-food entrepreneurs and the Sight and Life Foundation in Malawi, tackles the obstacles faced by smallholder farmers, working to increase egg production, enhance availability, and improve consumption within rural communities by supporting small-scale farmers transition from unsustainable and unproductive backyard rearing to small-scale farm through access to high-quality inputs, training, loans, and a guaranteed market for their eggs. Objectives: This paper provides a detailed account of the implementation of the pilot of the Egg Hub Model in Malawi including the demand creation process, the impact of the model on producers, consumers, and operators, and the social, economic, and environmental sustainability aspects of the model. Methods: Qualitative and quantitative surveys (n = 217 consumers) were used for demand creation and qualitative surveys were used with 15 retailers to determine egg sales. With 16 farmers and the egg hub operator, business metrics, including profits and loss records, were analyzed. Results: The pilot of the Egg Hub model in Malawi supported 85 farmers to triple their egg production, allowing their communities to purchase eggs at prices reduced by 40%, benefiting an estimated number of 180,000 rural poor. Egg consumption among the target population increased from an average of 2 to 9 eggs/month and led to reduced egg wastage and better biosecurity, reducing the risk of children's exposure to chicken feces and infections. The achievements of this Egg Hub in Malawi allowed the model to be replicated in Ethiopia, Peru, and Brazil, producing 40 million eggs annually and benefiting more than half a million consumers. Conclusion: The Egg Hub model is a comprehensive and scalable solution to increase egg supply, address malnutrition and food insecurity, and improve livelihoods. The advantages include centralizing key activities through a community-centered approach, empowering female farmers, increasing access to a highly nutritious food, and economic benefits for farmers and their communities.

Effects of public policy interventions for environmentally sustainable food consumption: a systematic map of available evidence.

BACKGROUND: The global food system is inflicting substantial environmental harm, necessitating a shift towards more environmentally sustainable food consumption practices. Policy interventions, for example, information campaigns, taxes and subsidies and changes in the choice context are essential to stimulate sustainable change, but their effectiveness in achieving environmental goals remains inadequately understood. Existing literature lacks a comprehensive synthesis of evidence on the role of public policies in promoting sustainable food consumption. Our systematic map addressed this gap by collecting and categorising research evidence on public policy interventions aimed at establishing environmentally sustainable food consumption patterns, in order to answer the primary research question: What evidence exists on the effects of public policy interventions for achieving environmentally sustainable food consumption? METHODS: Searches for relevant records (in English) were performed in WoS, Scopus, ASSIA, ProQuest Dissertation and Theses, EconLit, Google Scholar and in bibliographies of relevant reviews. A grey literature search was also performed on 28 specialist websites (searches were made in the original language of the webpages and publications in English, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian were eligible) and Google Scholar (search in English). Screening was performed at title/abstract and full-text levels, with machine learning-aided priority screening at title/abstract level. Eligibility criteria encompassed settings, interventions (public policies on sustainable food consumption), target groups and outcomes. No critical appraisal of study validity was conducted. Data coding covered bibliographic details, study characteristics, intervention types and outcomes. Evidence was categorised into intervention types and subcategories. Visual representation utilised bar plots, diagrams, heatmaps and an evidence atlas. This produced a comprehensive overview of effects of public policy interventions on sustainable food consumption patterns. REVIEW FINDINGS: The evidence base included 227 articles (267 interventions), with 92% of studies in high-income countries and only 4% in low-income countries. Quantitative studies dominated (83%), followed by mixed methods (16%) and qualitative studies (1%). Most interventions were information-based and 50% of reviewed studies looked at labels. Information campaigns/education interventions constituted 10% of the sample, and menu design changes and restriction/editing of choice context 8% each. Market-based interventions represented 13% of total interventions, of which two-thirds were taxes. Administrative interventions were rare (< 1%). Proxies for environmental impact (85%) were more frequent outcome measures than direct impacts (15%). Animal-source food consumption was commonly used (19%) for effects of interventions on, for example, greenhouse gas emissions. Most studies used stated preferences (61%) to evaluate interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The literature assessing policies for sustainable food consumption is dominated by studies on non-intrusive policy instruments; labels, information campaigns, menu design changes and editing choice contexts. There is a strong need for research on sustainable food policies to leave the lab and enter the real world, which will require support and cooperation of public and private sector stakeholders. Impact evaluations of large-scale interventions require scaling-up of available research funding and stronger multidisciplinary research, including collaborations with industry and other societal actors. Future research in this field should also go beyond the European and North American context, to obtain evidence on how to counteract increasing environmental pressures from food consumption worldwide.

Peanut hulls, an underutilized nutritious culinary ingredient: valorizing food waste for global food, health, and farm economies-a narrative review.

Peanut hulls (PHs) are an edible food waste that is an underutilized food source for human consumption. While edible and palatable, currently they are mainly diverted to livestock feed or building materials. Here, we describe existing literature supporting human food valorization of PHs, and propose methods to optimize recapturing nutrients (protein, fiber, phenols and other phytonutrients) lost by treating PHs as waste. Incorporated into common foods, PHs could be processed into functional ingredients to improve nutrient-density with anticipated corresponding positive health outcomes associated with increases in plant foods. Valorization of PHs addresses multiple priorities of the UN Sustainable Development Goals using a Food Systems Approach (FSA) including reducing food waste, increasing economic opportunities for farmers, and increasing the availability of healthy shelf-stable foodstuffs to address food security. Recent advances in sustainable food processing technologies can be utilized to safely incorporate PHs into human food streams. We propose future applications that could make meaningful impacts for food availability and the nutritional composition of common foods like bread and plant-based meat alternatives. While the limited literature on this topic spans several decades, no commercial operations currently exist to process PHs for human consumption, and most literature on the topic precedes the technological "green revolution." The approaches outlined in this review may help bolster commercialization of this underutilized and nutritious food potentially improving opportunities for multiple global stakeholders.

Creating pathways to just and sustainable food systems with citizen assemblies.

Food systems affect and are affected by the interrelated crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion and health, amongst others. Transforming to sustainable approaches is vital, yet entangled with uncertainties, complexity and a great value diversion with stakeholders. Deliberative processes such as citizen assemblies offer a valuable contribution to such a transformation, since the crises and their responses affect everyday life, and therefore inviting individual and collective action. Still, who is included and whose knowledge counts affects outcomes. Theoretically anchored in concepts of environmental justice, our study analyses three nation-wide citizens' assemblies on climate change and food systems from Western Europe. It assesses (a) how citizens' assemblies can incorporate a broad set of viewpoints and design more substantive political answers to current crises, and (b) whether citizens' assemblies include environmental justice aspects to facilitate social change. The paper argues that systematic and methodologically reflected inclusion of various positionalities can inspire decision-making processes in that they incorporate procedural, recognition, and distributional justice to address problems of climate change or modern food systems. It concludes with offering further approaches to include more than scientific knowledge in deliberative processes for a just transformation towards sustainability.

How the Global Burden of Animal Diseases links to the Global Burden of Crop Loss: a food systems perspective.

Food systems comprise interconnected webs of processes that together transform inputs (land, labour, water, nutrients and genetics, to mention just a few) into outputs such as nutrition and revenue for human societies. Perfect systems do not exist; rather, global food systems operate in the presence of hazards, biotic and abiotic alike, and under the constraint of limited resources to mitigate these hazards. There are, therefore, inefficiencies in these systems, which lead to losses in terms of monetary, nutritional, health and environmental values and create additional negative externalities in the health, social and environmental spaces. Health hazards in the food system do not respect arbitrary distinctions between the crop and livestock sectors, which are highly interconnected. These linkages exist where one sector provides inputs to another or through substitution effects where supply in one sector influences demand in another. The One Health approach advocates investigating the intersectoral hazards in a highly interdisciplinary manner. This article provides a conceptual framework for integrating the methodologies developed by the Global Burden of Crop Loss and Global Burden of Animal Diseases initiatives to generate burden estimates for hazards in food systems that better account for interconnectivity and foster an improved understanding of food systems that is aligned with the interdisciplinary nature of the One Health approach. A case study related to maize and poultry sector linkages in the wider context of public and environmental health is presented.

Les systèmes alimentaires sont des réseaux de processus interconnectés qui concourent à transformer des intrants (terre, main-d'oeuvre, eau, nutriments et génétique, pour n'en mentionner que quelques-uns) en extrants tels que des aliments et des revenus pour les sociétés humaines. Il n'existe pas de système parfait ; les systèmes alimentaires mondiaux sont exposés en permanence à des dangers de nature tant biotique qu'abiotique et contraints par les ressources limitées consacrées à l'atténuation de ces dangers. Les problèmes d'efficacité sont donc inéluctables ; ils entraînent des pertes de valeur tant monétaire que nutritionnelle, sanitaire et environnementale, et génèrent de nouvelles externalités négatives dans le domaine de la santé ainsi que dans l'espace social et dans l'environnement. Les dangers sanitaires présents dans le système alimentaire ignorent les distinctions arbitraires entre les secteurs agricole et d'élevage, lesquels sont fortement interconnectés. Ces liens se manifestent lorsqu'un secteur fournit des intrants à l'autre et, par l'effet de substitutions, lorsque l'offre dans un secteur influence la demande dans l'autre. L'approche " Une seule santé " préconise d'adopter une méthode fondée sur l'interdisciplinarité pour enquêter sur les dangers intersectoriels. Les auteurs décrivent le cadre conceptuel de l'intégration des méthodes des initiatives " Fardeau mondial des pertes agricoles " et " Impact mondial des maladies animales " dans le but de produire des estimations de la charge induite par les dangers des systèmes alimentaires qui prennent davantage en compte leur inter-connectivité et donnent lieu à une meilleure compréhension des systèmes alimentaires, en cohérence avec le caractère interdisciplinaire de l'approche " Une seule santé ". Est également présentée une étude de cas portant sur les liens entre la culture du maïs et l'élevage de volailles dans le contexte plus large de la santé publique et environnementale.

Los sistemas alimentarios comprenden redes interconectadas de procesos que, conjuntamente, transforman insumos (tierra, mano de obra, agua, nutrientes y genética, por mencionar solo algunos) en productos como alimentos e ingresos para las sociedades humanas. No existen sistemas perfectos; más bien, los sistemas alimentarios mundiales funcionan en un entorno de peligros, tanto bióticos como abióticos, y con las restricciones impuestas por los limitados recursos disponibles para mitigarlos. En estos sistemas se observan, por tanto, ineficiencias, que provocan pérdidas en términos monetarios, nutricionales, sanitarios y ambientales y que crean externalidades negativas adicionales en los ámbitos sanitario, social y ambiental. Los peligros para la salud en los sistemas alimentarios no atienden a distinciones arbitrarias entre los sectores agrícola y ganadero, que están muy interconectados. Estos vínculos surgen cuando un sector proporciona insumos a otro o a través de efectos de sustitución en los que la oferta de un sector influye en la demanda de otro. El enfoque de "Una sola salud" aboga por investigar los peligros intersectoriales de manera eminentemente interdisciplinaria. En este artículo se ofrece un marco teórico para la integración de las metodologías desarrolladas por las iniciativas dedicadas al impacto global de las pérdidas de cosechas y al impacto global de las enfermedades animales a fin de obtener estimaciones de los peligros en los sistemas alimentarios que tengan más en cuenta la interconexión y fomenten una mejor comprensión de los sistemas alimentarios acorde con el carácter interdisciplinario del enfoque de "Una sola salud". En este sentido, se presenta un estudio de caso relacionado con los vínculos entre los sectores del maíz y las aves de corral en el contexto más amplio de la salud pública y ambiental.