Understanding sustainable diets: a descriptive analysis of the determinants and processes that influence diets and their impact on health, food security, and environmental sustainability

The confluence of population, economic development, and environmental pressures resulting from increased globalization and industrialization reveal an increasingly resource-constrained world in which predictions point to the need to do more with less and in a “better” way. The concept of sustainable diets presents an opportunity to successfully advance commitments to sustainable development and the elimination of poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, and poor health outcomes. This study examines the determinants of sustainable diets, offers a descriptive analysis of these areas, and presents a causal model and framework from which to build. The major determinants of sustainable diets fall into 5 categories: 1) agriculture, 2) health, 3) sociocultural, 4) environmental, and 5) socioeconomic. When factors or processes are changed in 1 determinant category, such changes affect other determinant categories and, in turn, the level of “sustainability” of a diet. The complex web of determinants of sustainable diets makes it challenging for policymakers to understand the benefits and considerations for promoting, processing, and consuming such diets. To advance this work, better measurements and indicators must be developed to assess the impact of the various determinants on the sustainability of a diet and the tradeoffs associated with any recommendations aimed at increasing the sustainability of our food system

An approach to the multidimensional assessment of food security and environmental sustainability: a vulnerability framework for the Mediterranean region

Poster presented at First International Conference on Global Food Security. Noordwijkerhout (The Netherlands), 29 Sep - 2 Oct 201

Multidimensional assessment of food security and environmental sustainability: a vulnerability framework for the Mediterranean Region [Poster]

Poster presented at Tropentag 2013. International Research on Food Security, Natural Resource Management and Rural Development. "Agricultural development within the rural-urban continuum". Stuttgart-Hohenheim (Germany), Sep 17-19 2013

An approach to the multidimensional assessment of food security and environmental sustainability: a vulnerability framework for the Mediterranean region

Poster presented at First International Conference on Global Food Security. Noordwijkerhout (The Netherlands), 29 Sep - 2 Oct 201

Making the most of food aid to help prevent child and maternal deaths

Advances in child nutrition over the last several decades are creating momentum for a programmatic push to reduce undernutrition worldwide. The contribution of food aid may be small, but, nonetheless, U.S. food aid policy should be revamped to benefit more effectively and more efficiently the children and mothers in need

Purification of SIMPL Antibody and Immunofluorescence of SIMPL Sub-Cellular Localization in Response to TNFα- and IL-1

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)SIMPL is a transcriptional co-activator that alters the activity of transcription factor, NF-κB. In response to pathogens, cytokines such as Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) signal through the IL-1 and TNF-α receptors, respectively, which are found on various cell types. Activation of these receptors can result in the nuclear localization of NF-κB where it enables the transcription of several different genes key in the innate immune response. Endogenous co-localization of the SIMPL protein with NF-κB in response to these same cytokine signals has yet to be demonstrated. Polyclonal antibody generated against a truncated version of the SIMPL protein was purified from the sera obtained from immunized rabbits using affinity chromatography. The antibody was found to have a high specificity for both the native and denatured form of the protein as demonstrated by the lack of nonspecific bands observed in immunoprecipitations and Western blotting. The antibody was utilized in immunofluorescence experiments on mouse endothelial cells that were either unstimulated or were stimulated (IL-1 or TNF-α). In the absence of cytokine, SIMPL was localized in both the cytoplasm and the nucleus as opposed to NF-κB which was almost exclusively localized in the cytoplasm. In the presence of IL-1, the concentration of SIMPL in the nucleus was increased, and in the presence of TNF-α, the concentration of SIMPL in the nucleus was even greater. Results of this study identified future routes for SIMPL antibody isolation as well as to demonstrate that endogenous SIMPL protein nuclear localization may not be solely dependent upon TNF-α signaling

Assessing the potential of wild foods to reduce the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet: an example from eastern Baringo District, Kenya

A study of the role of wild food biodiversity in achieving a cost reduction of a nutritionally adequate diet for women and young children in Kenya using linear programming.An ethnobiological inventory of available food biodiversity was carried out by means of focus group discussions, and five wild foods selected for further modeling. A market survey assessed available food prices by season. Diets were modeled to minimize cost and maximize nutrient adequacy using the Cost of Diet linear programming tool. Modeling was done without and with wild foods.The modeled diets without wild species were deficient in iron for all age groups during the dry season, deficient in vitamin B6 and calcium for infants aged 6 to 8 months during the dry season, and deficient in iron and zinc for infants aged 6 to 8 months over the whole year. Adding wild foods to the modeled diets resulted in a lower-cost diet, while meeting recommended iron intakes for women and children between 12 and 23 months of age

Metrics of sustainable diets and food systems

Policy makers and consumers are challenging the scientific community to come up with ways to measure the environmental impact of the foods we eat. This Brief describes a challenging and innovative research agenda implemented by Bioversity and its partners to describe and measure sustainable diets and food systems. The Brief builds on the early work of FAO and Bioversity in understanding sustainable diets and identifies the rich cultural history of our food and the very real concerns about access and cost is not lost in our mission to improve dietary quality for the poor with the ultimate goal of improving nutrition and health. The study of sustainable diets is as relevant to the challenges of undernutrition as it is with dietary transition and nutrition related chronic diseases and obesity