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Towards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study

Barosh, Laurel J.; Lawrence, Mark; Friel, Sharon

Description

OBJECTIVE: To articulate a healthy and sustainable (H&S) diet; outline key health and environmental sustainability principles that can be applied in the selection of foods for inclusion in such a diet; and describe a methodology with which to assess the availability and affordability of a H&S food basket. DESIGN: We synthesized publically available evidence on the environmental impact of different foods from academic, government, industry and non-government sources and constructed a...[Show more]

dc.contributor.authorBarosh, Laurel J.
dc.contributor.authorLawrence, Mark
dc.contributor.authorFriel, Sharon
dc.date.accessioned2014-05-14T00:16:47Z
dc.date.available2014-05-14T00:16:47Z
dc.identifier.issn1368-9800
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/11672
dc.description.abstractOBJECTIVE: To articulate a healthy and sustainable (H&S) diet; outline key health and environmental sustainability principles that can be applied in the selection of foods for inclusion in such a diet; and describe a methodology with which to assess the availability and affordability of a H&S food basket. DESIGN: We synthesized publically available evidence on the environmental impact of different foods from academic, government, industry and non-government sources and constructed a hypothetical H&S equivalent of the typical Australian diet. Based on this, we constructed a weekly H&S food basket for a household of two adults and two children. SETTING: Australia. SUBJECTS: Australian populations. RESULTS: The H&S diet is based on three overarching principles: (i) any food that is consumed above a person’s energy requirement represents an avoidable environmental burden in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, use of natural resources and pressure on biodiversity; (ii) reducing the consumption of discretionary food choices, which are energy-dense and highly processed and packaged, reduces both the risk of dietary imbalances and the use of environmental resources; and (iii) a diet comprising less animal- and more plant-derived foods delivers both health and ecological benefits. CONCLUSIONS: We have focused on the articulation of a H&S diet not to facilitate ‘policy drift’ to focus on individual dietary choice, but rather to provide evidence to extend dietary guideline recommendations so as to integrate environmental considerations within the scope of food and health policy advice in Australia and elsewhere.
dc.description.sponsorshipThis research received support from the Climate and Health Cluster which is funded by the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Flagship Collaboration Fund.
dc.format11 pages
dc.publisherCambridge University Press
dc.rights© Cambridge University Press
dc.sourcePublic Health Nutrition 17. 5 (2014): 1156-1166
dc.subjectenvironmental
dc.subjectsustainability
dc.subjectdietary
dc.subjectchoice
dc.subjectfood
dc.subjectsystems
dc.subjectsecurity
dc.subjectpolicy
dc.subjecthealth
dc.titleTowards healthy and sustainable food consumption: an Australian case study
dc.typeJournal article
dcterms.dateAccepted2013-05-08
dc.date.issued2014-05
local.identifier.absfor111104 - Public Nutrition Intervention
local.identifier.ariespublicationu5427758xPUB2
local.type.statusPublished version
local.contributor.affiliationFriel, Sharon, National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University
local.contributor.affiliationBarosh, Laurel J., National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University
dc.relationhttp://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/ft0991462
local.identifier.doi10.1017/S1368980013001523
local.identifier.absseo920411 - Nutrition
dc.date.updated2015-12-08T02:43:39Z
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-84897487995
local.identifier.thomsonID000333638300025
CollectionsANU Research Publications

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