Strategies towards a more sustainable Swiss food system

What did your last meal consist of? Was it environmentally-friendly? Healthy? Expensive

Environmental, social, and economic consequences of six food system strategies for Switzerland

Consumption- as well as production-side changes are needed to improve the sustainability performance of food systems. We assessed multiple impacts of six food system strategies for Switzerland. Two strategies encompassed dietary changes: following a pescetarian diet and adhering to the national dietary guidelines. Two strategies employed alternative farming systems: increasing the share of organic production and, in addition, applying the circularity principle of avoiding feed-food competition by excluding livestock feed grown on arable land. A fifth strategy reduced food waste. The sixth strategy increased the share of domestic produce. For all strategies, we assessed greenhouse gas emissions, land use, nitrogen surplus, social risks, diet quality, and diet costs. The strategies revealed trade-offs between impact categories, unless combined in a synergistic way. Combining all proposed strategies could lead to substantial improvements in all impact categories assessed, but would require a thorough transformation of the current food system

Assessing food-based dietary guidelines from a resource use perspective

Reducing animal-source food (ASF) consumption is often proposed as a strategy to both reduce environmental impacts of food systems and improve diet quality. Food-based dietary guidelines are a common starting point for dietary improvements. However, these guidelines are generally designed from a diet quality perspective, and hence not linked to environmental impacts of food production. Here, we assessed whether nationally recommended quantities of ASF can be produced based on low-opportunity cost feed. We investigated this in a scenario analysis using an optimisation model. In this model, feed resources are allocated to different animal production systems in order to maximise different nutritional outcomes for humans. In addition, we calculated the global warming potential of each scenarios. While recommended quantities of ASF could not be met, limiting ASF to the extent that could be produced with low-opportunity cost feed would avoid feed-food competition as well as reduce global warming potential

40:60: The optimal ratio between animal and plant-based proteins for health and environment

There is currently little agreement on the optimal ratio of animal-sourced (ASP) versus plant-sourced proteins (PSP) in sustainable human diets. We deployed a biophysical optimization model to find the optimal ASP:PSP ratio at current and recommended protein intake levels for the EU28 countries. Results show that the lowest environmental impact for both land use and greenhouse gas emissions is achieved at a recommended protein intake of 46 g protein/cap/day with an ASP:PSP ratio of 40:60 (18 g ASP/cap/day). At current protein intake (82 g protein/cap/day), the optimal ASP:PSP ratio for land use ranges evenly between 22:78 and 60:40 (18 and 49 g ASP/cap/day) while for greenhouse gas emissions the optimal ASP:PSP ratio is at 40:60 (18 g ASP/cap/day). Diets containing less than 18 g ASP/cap/day show micronutrient inadequacies, leading to increases in both land use and greenhouse gas emissions

The compatibility of circularity and national dietary recommendations for animal products in five European countries: a modelling analysis on nutritional feasibility, climate impact, and land use

BACKGROUND National food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) are generally designed from a human health perspective and often disregard sustainability aspects. Circular food production systems are a promising solution to achieve sustainable healthy diets. In such systems, closing nutrient cycles where possible and minimising external inputs contribute to reducing environmental impacts. This change could be made by limiting livestock feed to available low-opportunity-cost biomass (LOCB). We examined the compatibility of national dietary guidelines for animal products with livestock production on the basis of the feed supplied by available LOCB. METHODS We investigated whether the national dietary recommendations for animal products for Bulgaria, Malta, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland could be met with domestically available LOCB. We used an optimisation model that allocates feed resources to different species of farm animals. Of the resulting scenarios, we assessed the nutritional feasibility, climate impact, and land use. FINDINGS Our results showed the environmental benefits of reducing the recommended animal products in the FBDGs, and that animal products from LOCB could provide between 22% (Netherlands) and 47% (Switzerland) of total protein contributions of the FBDGs. This range covers a substantial part of the nutritional needs of the studied populations. To fully meet these needs, consumption of plant-based food could be increased. INTERPRETATION Our results contribute to the discussion of what quantities of animal products in dietary guidelines are compatible with circular food systems. Thus, national dietary recommendations for animal products should be revised and recommended quantities lowered. This finding is consistent with recent efforts to include sustainability criteria in dietary guidelines. FUNDING Swiss National Science Foundation and the Dutch Research Council

Soil carbon sequestration in grazing systems : managing expectations

The inputs of C.M.G., M.H., and P.S. contribute to the project DEVIL [NE/M021327/1]. The input of P.S. also contributes to the following projects: U-GRASS [NE/M016900/1] and Soils-R-GRREAT [NE/P019455/1]. We thank the Centre of Organic Production and Consumption (EPOK) at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences for funding E.R.’s part of the research.Peer reviewedPostprin

Dietary choices and environmental impact in four European countries

Effective food policies in Europe require insight into the environmental impact of consumers’ diet to contribute to global nutrition security in an environmentally sustainable way. The present study therefore aimed to assess the environmental impact associated with dietary intake across four European countries, and to explain sources of variations in environmental impact by energy intake, demographics and diet composition. Individual-level dietary intake data were obtained from nationally-representative dietary surveys, by using two non-consecutive days of a 24-h recall or a diet record, from Denmark (DK, n = 1710), Czech Republic (CZ, n = 1666), Italy (IT, n = 2184), and France (FR, n = 2246). Dietary intake data were linked to a newly developed pan-European environmental sustainability indicator database that contains greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and land use (LU) values for ∼900 foods. To explain the variation in environmental impact of diets, multilevel regression models with random intercept and random slopes were fitted according to two levels: adults (level 1, n = 7806) and country (level 2, n = 4). In the models, diet-related GHGE or LU was the dependent variable, and the parameter of interest, i.e. either total energy intake or demographics or food groups, the exploratory variables. A 200-kcal higher total energy intake was associated with a 9% and a 10% higher daily GHGE and LU. Expressed per 2000 kcal, mean GHGE ranged from 4.4 (CZ) to 6.3 kgCO2eq/2000 kcal (FR), and LU ranged from 5.7 (CZ) to 8.0 m2*year/2000 kcal (FR). Dietary choices explained most of the variation between countries. A 5 energy percent (50 g/2000 kcal) higher meat intake was associated with a 10% and a 14% higher GHGE and LU density, with ruminant meat being the main contributor to environmental footprints. In conclusion, intake of energy, total meat and the proportion of ruminant meat explained most of the variation in GHGE and LU of European diets. Contributions of food groups to environmental footprints however varied between countries, suggesting that cultural preferences play an important role in environmental footprints of consumers. In particular, Findings from the present study will be relevant for national-specific food policy measures towards a more environmentally-friendly diet.</p

The compatibility of circularity and national dietary recommendations for animal products in five European countries: a modelling analysis on nutritional feasibility, climate impact, and land use

Background National food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) are generally designed from a human health perspective and often disregard sustainability aspects. Circular food production systems are a promising solution to achieve sustainable healthy diets. In such systems, closing nutrient cycles where possible and minimising external inputs contribute to reducing environmental impacts. This change could be made by limiting livestock feed to available lowopportunity-cost biomass (LOCB). We examined the compatibility of national dietary guidelines for animal products with livestock production on the basis of the feed supplied by available LOCB. Methods We investigated whether the national dietary recommendations for animal products for Bulgaria, Malta, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland could be met with domestically available LOCB. We used an optimisation model that allocates feed resources to different species of farm animals. Of the resulting scenarios, we assessed the nutritional feasibility, climate impact, and land use. Findings Our results showed the environmental benefits of reducing the recommended animal products in the FBDGs, and that animal products from LOCB could provide between 22% (Netherlands) and 47% (Switzerland) of total protein contributions of the FBDGs. This range covers a substantial part of the nutritional needs of the studied populations. To fully meet these needs, consumption of plant-based food could be increased. Interpretation Our results contribute to the discussion of what quantities of animal products in dietary guidelines are compatible with circular food systems. Thus, national dietary recommendations for animal products should be revised and recommended quantities lowered. This finding is consistent with recent efforts to include sustainability criteria in dietary guidelines. Funding Swiss National Science Foundation and the Dutch Research Council

Defining a land boundary for sustainable livestock consumption

The need for more sustainable production and consumption of animal source food (ASF) is central to the achievement of the sustainable development goals: within this context, wise use of land is a core challenge and concern. A key question in feeding the future world is: how much ASF should we eat? We demonstrate that livestock raised under the circular economy concept could provide a significant, nonnegligible part (9–23 g/per capita) of our daily protein needs (~50–60 g/per capita). This livestock then would not consume human-edible biomass, such as grains, but mainly convert leftovers from arable land and grass resources into valuable food, implying that production of livestock feed is largely decoupled from arable land. The availability of these biomass streams for livestock then determines the boundaries for livestock production and consumption. Under this concept, the competition for land for feed or food would be minimized and compared to no ASF, including some ASF in the human diet could free up about one quarter of global arable land. Our results also demonstrate that restricted growth in consumption of ASF in Africa and Asia would be feasible under these boundary conditions, while reductions in the rest of the world would be necessary to meet land use sustainability criteria. Managing this expansion and contraction of future consumption of ASF is essential for achieving sustainable nutrition security.</p

Circularity in animal production requires a change in the EAT-Lancet diet in Europe

It is not known whether dietary guidelines proposing a limited intake of animal protein are compatible with the adoption of circular food systems. Using a resource allocation model, we compared the effects of circularity on the supply of animal-source nutrients in Europe with the nutritional requirements of the EAT-Lancet reference diet. We found the two to be compatible in terms of total animal source proteins but not specific animal-source foods; in particular, the EAT-Lancet guidelines recommend larger quantities of poultry meat over beef and pork, while a circular food system produces mainly milk, dairy-beef and pork. Compared with the EAT-Lancet reference diet, greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by up to 31% and arable land use reduced by up to 42%. Careful consideration of the feasible substitutability between animal-source foods is needed to define potential roles of animal products in circular human diets