Our global food system is under enormous stress and there has never been a more urgent time for collective action to address food and nutrition security globally. New, sustainable approaches to improving the quality and variety of food produced and consumed around the world are needed, and nutrition must be front and centre as a major goal of agricultural systems.
Bioversity International – logoTogether with FAO and other partners, Bioversity International has been focusing on the importance of “sustainable diets” through the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity and promoting its role in our diets. Interspecies and intraspecies variations of plants and trees, animals, and marine life represent a considerable wealth of biodiversity and have the potential to contribute to improved nutrition. Many of these species have multiple uses, are highly nutritious, and are strongly linked to the cultural heritage of their places of origin.
During last year’s World Food Week celebrations, experts gathered in a symposium in Rome to present and share evidence and further define what a sustainable diet should entail. The meeting positioned sustainable diets, nutrition and biodiversity as central aspects of sustainable development. The sustainable use of food was highlighted as fundamental to the achievement of broader goal of sustainable development, as it connects the nutritional well-being of individuals and communities to the need to sustainably feed the planet.
We all agreed that sustainable diets are “those diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to a healthy life for present and future generations. Sustainable diets are protective and respectful of biodiversity and ecosystems, culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable; nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy; while optimising natural and human resources.”
Moving forward
As an outcome of the symposium, the Cross-cutting Initiative on Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was identified as the framework through which to promote further the sustainable diets’ concept in order to counteract biodiversity loss. The participants also called upon the FAO, Bioversity International and the CBD Secretariat (in collaboration with other relevant organisations and institutions) to establish a Task Force to promote and advance the concept of sustainable diets and the role of biodiversity within them, as contributions to the achievement of the MDGs and beyond.
The development of sustainable diets models will foster a broader consensus for action and will serve to raise awareness about the sustainability of our food systems. By building on the potential for integrating production, marketing, consumption and the health of both rural and urban people, we aim to secure the world’s food and nutrition security.
Text: Jessica Fanzo
Jessica Fanzo works as a senior scientist in nutrition and biodiversity at the Diversity for Livelihoods Programme, Bioversity International.
For more information visit the following sites: www.bioversityinternational.org and www.fao.org/ag/humannutrition/biodiversity/meetings/en