Sustainable-Nutrition.

In order to preserve population health and meet future generations nutritional needs, food systems must be able to provide enough energy and critical nutrients.

By Muhammad Uzair Aslam, Jahangir Ahmed and Muhammad Alamgeer

This is known as sustainable nutrition. It is food that is produced and distributed with consideration for people, the environment, and society. If we do not alter the way we produce food, the world’s population is predicted to reach 9.6 billion in 2050, and we would need to produce enough food to feed that many people on the scale of three planet Earths. Getting the proper food and nutrients to the right people is the first step in sustainable nutrition. It involves food safety as well as the nutritional value or healthfulness of foods. This entails consuming fewer nutrients connected to disease (such as sugar and sodium) and more nutrients that are good for health (fiber, protein, vitamins, minerals, etc).

Currently, 690 million people worldwide experience daily hunger or malnutrition, whereas 2 billion people worldwide are overweight or obese (WHO 2020). The nutritional requirements of these two groups of people are quite different. It is crucial to take into account who a nutrition solution is designed for and customize it for that person or group. Many laws and efforts will place a strong emphasis on lowering calorie, salt, and sugar intake in nations where the majority of the population is overweight or obese. Delivering calories, protein, and vital vitamins and minerals to prevent disease is given increased emphasis in programmes aimed at regions where a high percentage of people are undernourished (e.g. vitamin A, iron).

Because animal husbandry uses a lot of land, water, and produces a lot of greenhouse gases, there is a global effort on more environmentally friendly protein sources. The main change that this represents is a move toward more plant-based protein sources like pulses and beans. However, because they can occupy inhospitable territory and serve as recyclers of food waste streams, animals have a significant role to play in sustainable food systems. Precision fermentation and insect protein or cellular agriculture are two further growing fields to take into account. Many food types that we currently normally get via a farming-based system can be produced through fermentation in a healthier and more sustainable method.

Because they are felt to some extent by everyone, the economic effects of sustainable nutrition and sustainable healthy diets may be the most extensive. Economic pressure may force persons who are malnourished to choose between going without food or only being able to afford cheaper, less nutritious foods because they cannot afford safe, wholesome food. One illustration of this is the idea of “food deserts,” which are areas of a nation where people are unable to buy nutritous food because of a lack of income and/or access to transportation. If someone lives 30 kilometres from the nearest grocery that sells fresh food, but they lack a car or any other practical means of getting there, but they do not have a car or means of realistically reaching that supermarket, then that food is not available to them. In order to achieve sustainable nutrition, society must seek to supply dependable, healthy, and safe food sources on a global scale, taking into account social, cultural, environmental, and economic issues. In some regions of the world, a healthy diet may not be suitable. For instance, beef is a great source of several important nutrients like iron or zinc. Despite the fact that certain societies don’t consume enough of these nutrients, meat may not be acceptable to them due to societal or religious views. Finding sources of those nutrients that are acceptable for a given culture is crucial. Changing how our society lives and eats requires ensuring access to nutritious, environmentally friendly, and socially acceptable meals. An approachable technique to develop a more sustainable food supply is to think additively when acquiring and producing food. In other words, make an effort to include several elements of the aforementioned sustainable nutrition dimensions into the way you think, choose the meals you eat (as a consumer), source materials, or develop new products (as a food producer). The concept of sustainable nutrition is transforming the world’s food production systems. This additive thinking is being used by many businesses into their sustainability goals and plans.

Authors Name: Muhammad Uzair Aslam, Jahangir Ahmed and Muhammad Alamgeer.