Some countries encourage increased consumption of nutrient-rich foods to reduce the burden of diet-related diseases such as diabetes as one of their health goals—but they also subsidise foods that can contribute to those diseases, such as sugar, edible oil, or refined grains.
Food loss and waste is a major problem worldwide: it is estimated that 14% of all food produced globally is lost between harvest and retail, while 17% is wasted. For the most nutrient-dense foods, which tend to be highly perishable, levels are even higher, exceeding 20% for the category of fruits and vegetables.
In this blog, Anouk de Vries looks at some of the work underway to deliver on the aspirations set out in the 2021 Food System Summit - making the way we grow, deliver and consume food more sustainable and healthier.
Companies entering the lower-income consumer market often adapt existing products to meet lower-income consumers’ needs—in particular, redesigning the product to improve affordability. One way to do this is to simply replace more expensive ingredients with cheaper alternatives, or omit certain ingredients altogether.
Recently I was on panel chaired by the UN Deputy Secretary General, Amina Mohamed, where I was asked three questions about the UN’s “Stocktaking Moment” two years after the UN Food Systems Summit of 2021 (UNFSS). Here are my answers to the questions.
Good nutrition has a hugely positive impact on health and other social goals, like educational attainment and work productivity – but the sector remains under-financed relative to its potential. How can we change this?
Until recently, action taken to address climate change and malnutrition were two entirely separate conversations, with two eco-systems that did not interact. That is no longer sustainable. We cannot properly address climate change without addressing nutrition and vice versa.
GAIN’s mission is to improve the consumption of nutritious and safe food for all people, especially those most vulnerable to malnutrition. As a nutrition organisation, we understand food safety to be a core component of our mission and our ability to achieve healthier diets. Safe food is essential for food security and nutrition, and it affects everything from what consumers eat, to their livelihoods, and their families’ health.
Dr Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), has received his medal and been made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for "services to International Nutrition, Food and Agriculture".
Read our tenth story in the series on The Food Crisis: What's Happening, a collection of work on the current events and the impact communities are seeing on a global scale.
The Food Crisis is affecting everyone socially, economically and nutritionally. Ty Beal, Stella Nordhagen and Gina Kennedy recently attended the International Congress of Nutrition, here they write on the discourse needed to tackle the crisis