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In 2023, 25% of adults in England, Wales and Northern Ireland experienced food insecurity. The concentration of food insecurity in both socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and households containing children raises concerns about its uneven nutritional and health impacts across different groups. In parallel with rising food insecurity over the past decade, concerns about the environmental consequences of human diets are intensifying, where urgent changes are needed to people's diets to avoid irreversible environmental damage. It is generally assumed that cost has a significant impact on people's ability to adopt more environmentally sustainable food practices. This UK Research Council-funded project seeks to gain insights into the ways in which low-income mothers (are able to) engage with environmentally sustainable food practices. RQ1 will examine the day-to-day food practices that mothers undertake for their families to offer insights into everyday food insecurity and the relevance of environmentally sustainable food practices. RQ2 will explore biographical experiences to highlight how mothers' life histories influence their familial food practices, including their current household food security and engagement with environmentally sustainable food practices. Finally, RQ3 will explore mothers' upcoming prospects of food insecurity and environmentally sustainable food practices. These research questions will be explored through a qualitative longitudinal, feminist study of 15 low-income mothers in Sheffield, UK, combining in-depth interviews with ethnographic elements. Gaining improved knowledge of mothers' food practices on a low income will be valuable to influence realistic, effective and meaningful philosophies, policies and practical action that prioritises equity, good nutrition and environmentally sustainable food practices.

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The modern global food system is highly unsustainable, shaped by industrialisation and corporate consolidation, with negative repercussions on the environment and biodiversity as well as human health. This paper looks at the burgeoning economy in neglected and underutilised species (NUS) in the Western Cape, South Africa, as a potential innovation that could make the local food system more socially and ecologically resilient. Although, at present, NUS are only marginally included in the local food system and policy discussions, NUS increasingly appear in the high-end food industry, driven by international gastronomic trends. These species hold potential as climate resilient, nutritionally dense, and socially and culturally significant foods in the region, but they also carry ecological and social risks. We critically examine the fledgling NUS economy in the Cape Town area to unpack the motivations and challenges associated with the potentially transformative inclusion of these foods into the local food system. We demonstrate that the main risks associated with NUS are negative ecological repercussions, privatisation of the NUS economy, and the reproduction and further entrenchment of unequal power and race dynamics in the region. To mitigate these risks and actualise the related benefits associated with NUS, engagement with the ecological, social, and political context of NUS needs to be significantly deepened. This is particularly true for those working in the high-end food industry, who appear to be driving the NUS economy, and will require education around sustainability and Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), as well as a foregrounding awareness of power dynamics.

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Peanut hulls (PHs) are an edible food waste that is an underutilized food source for human consumption. While edible and palatable, currently they are mainly diverted to livestock feed or building materials. Here, we describe existing literature supporting human food valorization of PHs, and propose methods to optimize recapturing nutrients (protein, fiber, phenols and other phytonutrients) lost by treating PHs as waste. Incorporated into common foods, PHs could be processed into functional ingredients to improve nutrient-density with anticipated corresponding positive health outcomes associated with increases in plant foods. Valorization of PHs addresses multiple priorities of the UN Sustainable Development Goals using a Food Systems Approach (FSA) including reducing food waste, increasing economic opportunities for farmers, and increasing the availability of healthy shelf-stable foodstuffs to address food security. Recent advances in sustainable food processing technologies can be utilized to safely incorporate PHs into human food streams. We propose future applications that could make meaningful impacts for food availability and the nutritional composition of common foods like bread and plant-based meat alternatives. While the limited literature on this topic spans several decades, no commercial operations currently exist to process PHs for human consumption, and most literature on the topic precedes the technological "green revolution." The approaches outlined in this review may help bolster commercialization of this underutilized and nutritious food potentially improving opportunities for multiple global stakeholders.

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Background: Despite progress in improving living standards and reduced poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition remain a significant issue worldwide. Childhood is a critical time for the intake of protein to support physical and cognitive growth, including animal-source foods like eggs which can effectively mitigate stunting in low- and middle-income countries. In Malawi, high malnutrition rates among women and children represent a significant public health challenge, but high-quality sources such as eggs remain costly, scarce, and rarely consumed by children in Malawi. The Egg Hub model, identified and piloted by local agri-food entrepreneurs and the Sight and Life Foundation in Malawi, tackles the obstacles faced by smallholder farmers, working to increase egg production, enhance availability, and improve consumption within rural communities by supporting small-scale farmers transition from unsustainable and unproductive backyard rearing to small-scale farm through access to high-quality inputs, training, loans, and a guaranteed market for their eggs. Objectives: This paper provides a detailed account of the implementation of the pilot of the Egg Hub Model in Malawi including the demand creation process, the impact of the model on producers, consumers, and operators, and the social, economic, and environmental sustainability aspects of the model. Methods: Qualitative and quantitative surveys (n = 217 consumers) were used for demand creation and qualitative surveys were used with 15 retailers to determine egg sales. With 16 farmers and the egg hub operator, business metrics, including profits and loss records, were analyzed. Results: The pilot of the Egg Hub model in Malawi supported 85 farmers to triple their egg production, allowing their communities to purchase eggs at prices reduced by 40%, benefiting an estimated number of 180,000 rural poor. Egg consumption among the target population increased from an average of 2 to 9 eggs/month and led to reduced egg wastage and better biosecurity, reducing the risk of children's exposure to chicken feces and infections. The achievements of this Egg Hub in Malawi allowed the model to be replicated in Ethiopia, Peru, and Brazil, producing 40 million eggs annually and benefiting more than half a million consumers. Conclusion: The Egg Hub model is a comprehensive and scalable solution to increase egg supply, address malnutrition and food insecurity, and improve livelihoods. The advantages include centralizing key activities through a community-centered approach, empowering female farmers, increasing access to a highly nutritious food, and economic benefits for farmers and their communities.

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Food systems affect and are affected by the interrelated crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, resource depletion and health, amongst others. Transforming to sustainable approaches is vital, yet entangled with uncertainties, complexity and a great value diversion with stakeholders. Deliberative processes such as citizen assemblies offer a valuable contribution to such a transformation, since the crises and their responses affect everyday life, and therefore inviting individual and collective action. Still, who is included and whose knowledge counts affects outcomes. Theoretically anchored in concepts of environmental justice, our study analyses three nation-wide citizens' assemblies on climate change and food systems from Western Europe. It assesses (a) how citizens' assemblies can incorporate a broad set of viewpoints and design more substantive political answers to current crises, and (b) whether citizens' assemblies include environmental justice aspects to facilitate social change. The paper argues that systematic and methodologically reflected inclusion of various positionalities can inspire decision-making processes in that they incorporate procedural, recognition, and distributional justice to address problems of climate change or modern food systems. It concludes with offering further approaches to include more than scientific knowledge in deliberative processes for a just transformation towards sustainability.

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BACKGROUND: The global food system is inflicting substantial environmental harm, necessitating a shift towards more environmentally sustainable food consumption practices. Policy interventions, for example, information campaigns, taxes and subsidies and changes in the choice context are essential to stimulate sustainable change, but their effectiveness in achieving environmental goals remains inadequately understood. Existing literature lacks a comprehensive synthesis of evidence on the role of public policies in promoting sustainable food consumption. Our systematic map addressed this gap by collecting and categorising research evidence on public policy interventions aimed at establishing environmentally sustainable food consumption patterns, in order to answer the primary research question: What evidence exists on the effects of public policy interventions for achieving environmentally sustainable food consumption? METHODS: Searches for relevant records (in English) were performed in WoS, Scopus, ASSIA, ProQuest Dissertation and Theses, EconLit, Google Scholar and in bibliographies of relevant reviews. A grey literature search was also performed on 28 specialist websites (searches were made in the original language of the webpages and publications in English, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian were eligible) and Google Scholar (search in English). Screening was performed at title/abstract and full-text levels, with machine learning-aided priority screening at title/abstract level. Eligibility criteria encompassed settings, interventions (public policies on sustainable food consumption), target groups and outcomes. No critical appraisal of study validity was conducted. Data coding covered bibliographic details, study characteristics, intervention types and outcomes. Evidence was categorised into intervention types and subcategories. Visual representation utilised bar plots, diagrams, heatmaps and an evidence atlas. This produced a comprehensive overview of effects of public policy interventions on sustainable food consumption patterns. REVIEW FINDINGS: The evidence base included 227 articles (267 interventions), with 92% of studies in high-income countries and only 4% in low-income countries. Quantitative studies dominated (83%), followed by mixed methods (16%) and qualitative studies (1%). Most interventions were information-based and 50% of reviewed studies looked at labels. Information campaigns/education interventions constituted 10% of the sample, and menu design changes and restriction/editing of choice context 8% each. Market-based interventions represented 13% of total interventions, of which two-thirds were taxes. Administrative interventions were rare (< 1%). Proxies for environmental impact (85%) were more frequent outcome measures than direct impacts (15%). Animal-source food consumption was commonly used (19%) for effects of interventions on, for example, greenhouse gas emissions. Most studies used stated preferences (61%) to evaluate interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The literature assessing policies for sustainable food consumption is dominated by studies on non-intrusive policy instruments; labels, information campaigns, menu design changes and editing choice contexts. There is a strong need for research on sustainable food policies to leave the lab and enter the real world, which will require support and cooperation of public and private sector stakeholders. Impact evaluations of large-scale interventions require scaling-up of available research funding and stronger multidisciplinary research, including collaborations with industry and other societal actors. Future research in this field should also go beyond the European and North American context, to obtain evidence on how to counteract increasing environmental pressures from food consumption worldwide.

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Food systems comprise interconnected webs of processes that together transform inputs (land, labour, water, nutrients and genetics, to mention just a few) into outputs such as nutrition and revenue for human societies. Perfect systems do not exist; rather, global food systems operate in the presence of hazards, biotic and abiotic alike, and under the constraint of limited resources to mitigate these hazards. There are, therefore, inefficiencies in these systems, which lead to losses in terms of monetary, nutritional, health and environmental values and create additional negative externalities in the health, social and environmental spaces. Health hazards in the food system do not respect arbitrary distinctions between the crop and livestock sectors, which are highly interconnected. These linkages exist where one sector provides inputs to another or through substitution effects where supply in one sector influences demand in another. The One Health approach advocates investigating the intersectoral hazards in a highly interdisciplinary manner. This article provides a conceptual framework for integrating the methodologies developed by the Global Burden of Crop Loss and Global Burden of Animal Diseases initiatives to generate burden estimates for hazards in food systems that better account for interconnectivity and foster an improved understanding of food systems that is aligned with the interdisciplinary nature of the One Health approach. A case study related to maize and poultry sector linkages in the wider context of public and environmental health is presented.

Les systèmes alimentaires sont des réseaux de processus interconnectés qui concourent à transformer des intrants (terre, main-d'oeuvre, eau, nutriments et génétique, pour n'en mentionner que quelques-uns) en extrants tels que des aliments et des revenus pour les sociétés humaines. Il n'existe pas de système parfait ; les systèmes alimentaires mondiaux sont exposés en permanence à des dangers de nature tant biotique qu'abiotique et contraints par les ressources limitées consacrées à l'atténuation de ces dangers. Les problèmes d'efficacité sont donc inéluctables ; ils entraînent des pertes de valeur tant monétaire que nutritionnelle, sanitaire et environnementale, et génèrent de nouvelles externalités négatives dans le domaine de la santé ainsi que dans l'espace social et dans l'environnement. Les dangers sanitaires présents dans le système alimentaire ignorent les distinctions arbitraires entre les secteurs agricole et d'élevage, lesquels sont fortement interconnectés. Ces liens se manifestent lorsqu'un secteur fournit des intrants à l'autre et, par l'effet de substitutions, lorsque l'offre dans un secteur influence la demande dans l'autre. L'approche " Une seule santé " préconise d'adopter une méthode fondée sur l'interdisciplinarité pour enquêter sur les dangers intersectoriels. Les auteurs décrivent le cadre conceptuel de l'intégration des méthodes des initiatives " Fardeau mondial des pertes agricoles " et " Impact mondial des maladies animales " dans le but de produire des estimations de la charge induite par les dangers des systèmes alimentaires qui prennent davantage en compte leur inter-connectivité et donnent lieu à une meilleure compréhension des systèmes alimentaires, en cohérence avec le caractère interdisciplinaire de l'approche " Une seule santé ". Est également présentée une étude de cas portant sur les liens entre la culture du maïs et l'élevage de volailles dans le contexte plus large de la santé publique et environnementale.

Los sistemas alimentarios comprenden redes interconectadas de procesos que, conjuntamente, transforman insumos (tierra, mano de obra, agua, nutrientes y genética, por mencionar solo algunos) en productos como alimentos e ingresos para las sociedades humanas. No existen sistemas perfectos; más bien, los sistemas alimentarios mundiales funcionan en un entorno de peligros, tanto bióticos como abióticos, y con las restricciones impuestas por los limitados recursos disponibles para mitigarlos. En estos sistemas se observan, por tanto, ineficiencias, que provocan pérdidas en términos monetarios, nutricionales, sanitarios y ambientales y que crean externalidades negativas adicionales en los ámbitos sanitario, social y ambiental. Los peligros para la salud en los sistemas alimentarios no atienden a distinciones arbitrarias entre los sectores agrícola y ganadero, que están muy interconectados. Estos vínculos surgen cuando un sector proporciona insumos a otro o a través de efectos de sustitución en los que la oferta de un sector influye en la demanda de otro. El enfoque de "Una sola salud" aboga por investigar los peligros intersectoriales de manera eminentemente interdisciplinaria. En este artículo se ofrece un marco teórico para la integración de las metodologías desarrolladas por las iniciativas dedicadas al impacto global de las pérdidas de cosechas y al impacto global de las enfermedades animales a fin de obtener estimaciones de los peligros en los sistemas alimentarios que tengan más en cuenta la interconexión y fomenten una mejor comprensión de los sistemas alimentarios acorde con el carácter interdisciplinario del enfoque de "Una sola salud". En este sentido, se presenta un estudio de caso relacionado con los vínculos entre los sectores del maíz y las aves de corral en el contexto más amplio de la salud pública y ambiental.

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BACKGROUND: Addressing Indigenous food security and food sovereignty calls for community-driven strategies to improve access to and availability of traditional and local food. Participatory approaches that integrate Indigenous leadership have supported successful program implementation. Learning Circles: Local Healthy Food to School is a participatory program that convenes a range of stakeholders including food producers, educators and Knowledge Keepers to plan, implement and monitor local food system action. Pilot work (2014-2015) in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (BC), showed promising results of the Learning Circles (LC) approach in enhancing local and traditional food access, knowledge and skills among youth and adolescents. The objective of the current evaluation was therefore to examine the process of scaling-up the LC vertically within the Haida Nation; and horizontally across three diverse First Nations contexts: Gitxsan Nation, Hazelton /Upper Skeena, BC; Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan; and Black River First Nation, Manitoba between 2016 and 2019. METHODS: An implementation science framework, Foster-Fishman and Watson's (2012) ABLe Change Framework, was used to understand the LC as a participatory approach to facilitate community capacity building to strengthen local food systems. Interviews (n = 52), meeting summaries (n = 44) and tracking sheets (n = 39) were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: The LC facilitated a collaborative process to: (1) build on strengths and explore ways to increase readiness and capacity to reclaim traditional and local food systems; (2) strengthen connections to land, traditional knowledge and ways of life; (3) foster community-level action and multi-sector partnerships; (4) drive actions towards decolonization through revitalization of traditional foods; (5) improve availability of and appreciation for local healthy and traditional foods in school communities; and (6) promote holistic wellness through steps towards food sovereignty and food security. Scale-up within Haida Gwaii supported a growing, robust local and traditional food system and enhanced Haida leadership. The approach worked well in other First Nations contexts, though baseline capacity and the presence of champions were enabling factors. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight LC as a participatory approach to build capacity and support iterative planning-to-action in community food systems. Identified strengths and challenges support opportunities to expand, adopt and modify the LC approach in other Indigenous communities with diverse food systems.

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Background: To monitor trends toward healthy and sustainable diets, there is a need for feasible survey tools, with cross-cultural validity, low-cost, and low-expertise requirements. Objectives: The objective of this research was to develop a method to gather data suitable for monitoring diet quality in the general population (women and men of all ages) that is feasible within multitopic surveys, low burden for both enumerators and respondents, valid at population level, and that captures the information necessary for understanding diet quality at global and local levels. Methods: A literature review was conducted to identify constructs of diet quality with existing consensus, indicators with existing global demand, and methods that may be feasible and valid. Results were presented to a technical advisory group for debate, resulting in consensus on a set of constructs to be measured, desired indicators, viable data collection platforms, and an approach for testing and piloting. Results: Food group-based indicators and 24-h recall period were selected as the most feasible and valid approach for population-level monitoring. A 29-item Diet Quality Questionnaire (DQQ) was developed, where each yes/no question asks about the consumption of a distinct food group on the previous day or night. The food groups were selected for the purpose of deriving indicators to capture the constructs for which there was consensus: nutrient adequacy, and protection against noncommunicable diseases, including both positive and negative risk factors. Conclusions: The DQQ is low cost and feasible to administer in existing large-scale surveys, overcoming barriers to diet data collection that have precluded the routine monitoring of diet quality in the past. This novel approach has now been used across >85 countries in the Gallup World Poll and other surveys, generating the first nationally representative available datasets on Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women and complementary diet quality indicators.

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With the increasing likelihood of agricultural production failures under a warmer global climate, the importance of markets in providing access to nutrient-dense foods (NDFs) through trade is predicted to grow. However, regions with relatively poor access to markets and supporting infrastructures (e.g. roads and storage facilities) are potentially ill-equipped to deal with both short-term hydrometeorological hazards such as droughts and floods, and longer-term shifts in agricultural productivity. Despite the increasing focus upon markets within academic and policymaking circles, a regional-scale assessment of these potentially coexisting hotspots of vulnerability has not been conducted. We conduct a two-stage geospatial analysis integrating three publicly available datasets across the Indian states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Odisha. Combining the 2011 national census with the new PMGSY-GeoSadak database, we conduct nearest neighbour analysis to measure multidimensional market inaccessibility by: (i) distance from a settlement to its nearest village, town or city with a market, (ii) distance from a settlement to its nearest major road, and (iii) distance from a settlement to its subdistrict headquarters. We then correlate these measures with India's only district-wise assessment of climate vulnerability to identify hotspots of market inaccessibility and climate hazards. We find that the three market access measures are spatially autocorrelated and positively interrelated at the settlement (n = 129 555) and district (n = 107) levels, meaning that settlements located further from their nearest market tend to experience poorer road connectivity and access to the subdistrict economic hub. Approximately 18.5-million people live in districts with relatively high climate vulnerability and relatively high and multidimensional market inaccessibility. Hotspots of coexisting vulnerabilities are also disproportionately populated by 'Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes' (SC/ST) communities. The identification of coexisting hotspots has important implications for the development of equitable and resilient markets that bolster NDF access for climate vulnerable and nutritionally insecure populations.

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Current food systems fail to provide equity, sustainability, and positive health outcomes, thus underscoring the critical need for their transformation. Intervening in food environments holds substantial promise for contributing to this much-needed transformation. Despite scholars and practitioners often recognizing the necessity for bottom-up approaches, there is a dearth of empirical investigations evaluating the potential of these approaches to contribute to food system transformations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our study aimed to address this research gap, providing a unique perspective in this regard. Drawing on evidence from two co-creation case studies conducted with small-scale informal fruit and vegetable vendors and poor consumers in Vietnam and Nigeria from January 2020 to December 2021, we explored the relevance of bottom-up community-engaged co-creation processes in intervening within LMICs' food retail environments. Employing a mixed-methods approach that includes quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews, participatory workshops, and focus group discussions, we demonstrated that bottom-up co-creation processes involving marginalized socioeconomic groups can generate retail-level innovations that are tailored to informal retail contexts, whereas remaining aligned with established top-down theories and literature pertaining to food environments and healthy diets. We provided empirical evidence highlighting how both vendors and consumers respond positively to the co-created innovations. Expanding upon our results, we offered methodological insights applicable to interventions targeted at food environments in LMICs, and considerations for future research or development initiatives in this domain. Our findings revealed the capacity of vulnerable stakeholders to actively engage in public health initiatives and contribute to developing innovative solutions that are context-specific and conducive to the adoption of healthier dietary practices. These results confirm the potential of bottom-up, co-creation, real-world interventions within informal settings to contribute toward fostering inclusive transformation of food systems.

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Slovenia, influenced by Slavic, Mediterranean, and Balkan cultures, along with Austro-Hungarian traditions and strong environmental concerns, is an ideal case study for understanding consumer perceptions of edible insects and increasing their acceptance as an alternative protein source. A survey conducted in Slovenian and English with 537 participants examined existing perceptions and acceptance of edible insects as food and livestock feed. Findings show moderate interest in insects, particularly in non-visible, integrated forms, despite most participants not having tried whole insects. Young, educated individuals and those residing in rural areas have tried insects more often than other sociodemographic groups. Men showed more interest in entomophagy compared to women. Crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts were most acceptable, while cockroaches were least favored. Economic factors are crucial, with a preference for insect-based products priced similarly to conventional foods. The majority also support using insects as livestock feed. These results can aid policymakers at regional and national levels, help businesses market these products, and contribute to the literature on consumer responses in different European regions regarding edible insects as a sustainable food source.

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Transitioning to food systems that are equitable, resilient, healthy and environmentally sustainable will require the cultivation and diffusion of transformational sociotechnical innovations-and grassroots movements are an essential source of such innovations. Within the literature on strategic niche management, government-provided 'protected spaces' where niche innovations can develop without facing the pressures of the market is an essential part of sustainability transitions. However, because of their desire to transform rather than transition food systems, grassroots movements often struggle to acquire such protected spaces and so must determine how and where to generate change whilst being marginalised and exposed to unprotected spaces. The aim of this research is to gain a precise view of the multiple touchpoints of marginalisation that exist across the grassroots-government interface and to apply a new framework for conceptual analysis of these touchpoints that can help to identify where and how grassroots movements might be able to push against this marginalisation. The study finds that, by applying a 'who, what, where' framework of analysis to policies across this interface, it is possible to find pathways forward for achieving small wins towards food systems transformation.

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CONTEXT: Owning livestock can support women's empowerment and progress toward gender-equitable agri-food systems. Gender inequality, however, can reduce women's ownership of livestock and access to animal vaccines. Gender accommodative approaches (GAAs), and more recently gender transformative approaches (GTAs), are increasingly implemented in development interventions. However, their impact on women's empowerment has not been systematically tested. Here, we describe the 'Women Rear Project', implemented in northern Ghana between 2019 and 2023, and assess the impact of GTAs and GAAs on women's empowerment, ownership of livestock, and access to animal vaccines. OBJECTIVE: We sought to systematically assess changes conferred by GAAs and GTAs on gender norms and women's empowerment and access to animal vaccines. METHODS: Using a mixed-methods approach, in 2021 and 2023 we collected quantitative and qualitative data regarding women's empowerment, gender norms, and access to animal vaccines. Qualitative data regarding women's and men's conceptualizations of gender norms and women's empowerment were obtained via focus group discussions and key informant interviews. Quantitative survey data were obtained from 500 households, using the Women's Empowerment in Livestock Index (WELI). Quantitative data on livelihood indicators were also collected, using the Rural Household Multi-Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) tool. We systematically assessed changes between baseline (2021) and endline (2023) in local conceptualizations of empowerment in the livestock sector, the effects of GTAs and GAAs on such conceptualizations, and how empowerment was experienced by women and men and the implications for women's access to animal vaccines. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Local conceptualizations of empowerment in 2021, among both women and men, emphasized financial independence, decision-making autonomy, self-reliance, and problem-solving skills. In 2023, this conceptualization of empowerment had expanded to include the ability to act without external restrictions; women were empowered by managing resources, running successful businesses, and making decisions in consultation with their husbands. Furthermore, women in communities where GTAs had been enacted scored significantly higher in empowerment compared with women in communities where only GAAs had been introduced. Gender norms impacted empowerment indicators, with respect among household members and autonomy in income both contributing to disempowerment. Gender norms also affected respondents' reporting. Women's access to livestock vaccines was more positive in GTA/GAA communities. We recommend efforts are made to reduce restrictive gender norms and enhance women's empowerment and access to resources such as animal vaccines. SIGNIFICANCE: We offer recommendations for pathways toward women's empowerment and healthy livestock via inclusive innovations in agri-food systems.

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Diets, but also overall food environments, comprise a variety of significant factors with direct and indirect impacts on human health. Eco-Regions are geographical areas with a territorial approach to rural development, utilizing organic food and farming practices, and principles and promoting sustainable communities and food systems. However, so far, little attention has been given to quantifying aspects of the health of citizens living in these sustainable transition territories. The project "Indicators for Assessment of Health Effects of Consumption of Sustainable, Organic School Meals in Eco-Regions" (INSUM) aims to identify and discuss research approaches and indicators that could be applied to effectively measure the somatic, mental, and social health dimensions of citizens in Eco-Regions, linked to the intake of organic foods in their diets. In this paper, we focus on the somatic (physical) health dimension. A two-day workshop was held to discuss suitable methodology with an interdisciplinary, international group of experts. The results showed the limitations of commonly used tools for measuring dietary intake (e.g., relying on the memory of participants), and nutritional biomarkers (e.g., variations in correlations with specific intakes) for research understanding dietary intake and the health effects of diets. To investigate the complexity of this issue, the most suitable approach seems to be the combination of traditional markers of physical and mental health alongside emerging indicators such as the microbiome, nutrigenomics, metabolomics, or inflammatory biomarkers. Using new, digital, non-invasive, and wearable technologies to monitor indicators could complement future research. We conclude that future studies should adopt systemic, multidisciplinary approaches by combining not only indicators of somatic and mental health and social wellbeing (MHSW) but also considering the potential benefits of organic diets for health as well as aspects of sustainability connected to food environments.

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Indigenous communities in the North American Arctic are characterized by mixed economies that feature hunting, fishing, gathering, and trapping activities-and associated sharing practices-alongside the formal wage economy. The region is also undergoing rapid social, economic, and climate changes, including, in Canada, carbon taxation, which is impacting the cost of fuel used in local food harvesting. Because of the importance of local foods to nutrition, health, and well-being in Arctic Indigenous communities, there is an urgent need to better understand the sensitivity of Arctic food systems to social, economic, and climate changes and to develop plans for mitigating potential adverse effects. Here, we develop a Bayesian model to calculate the substitution value and carbon emissions of market replacements for local food harvests in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Canada. Our estimates suggest that under plausible scenarios, replacing locally harvested foods with imported market substitutes would cost over 3.1 million Canadian dollars per year and emit over 1,000 tons of CO2-equivalent emissions per year, regardless of the shipping scenario. In contrast, we estimate that gasoline inputs to harvesting cost approximately $295,000 and result in 315 to 497 tons of emissions. These results indicate that climate change policies that fail to account for local food production may undermine emissions targets and adversely impact food security and health in Arctic Indigenous communities, who already experience a high cost of living and high rates of food insecurity.

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Food insecurity is pervasive in Allegheny County, as one in five residents experiences food insecurity. Food insecurity is linked to chronic health conditions like heart disease and hypertension and disproportionately affects women in the United States, particularly women who are head of household. There are multiple dimensions used to measure regional disparities in food accessibility. Prior research has examined the linkages between food access and food insecurity, and this study aims to explore further the relationship between equitable access to sustainable and affordable food sources. This study examines food outlets in Allegheny County to determine if there is a significant relationship between food outlet availability and food insecurity. Both the presence and accessibility of these food outlets were examined. To measure accessibility, the walking distance to the nearest public transportation stop was calculated for each public transportation stop. The minimum distance to each food outlet was compared to food insecurity rates on a census tract level. Results showed that communities without grocery stores had lower access to healthy and affordable food sources. Also, communities with a higher proportion of female-headed households experienced greater food insecurity, regardless of access to food outlets. There was no statistically significant relationship between the distance from public transportation stops to grocery stores and rates of food insecurity overall and in low-income communities. However, communities with inaccessible grocery stores, either absent in the census tract or without close public transport stops, did have even greater average rates of food insecurity if there was an above-average proportion of female-headed households. Based on these findings, it is evident there exist structural elements of the built environment that correspond with disproportionate rates of food insecurity experienced by communities with households that are predominately female headed. In addition to resource support for these marginalized groups, we suggest that sole reliance on distance as an indicator of food insecurity can be misleading. There should be a greater focus on walkability aggregated on a household or individual level within the community instead of physical distance alone at a general scale.

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Aligning institutional food procurement with planetary health targets offers opportunities to improve nutrition and reduce food-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study compared foods procured by 19 university dining programs in the U.S. in 2022 with the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet. Each university's procurement was then modeled to align with the EAT-Lancet planetary health diet, and changes to Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores and GHG emissions were evaluated. For a subset of universities that provided cost data, changes in annual total food costs were also estimated. Universities in this study exceeded EAT-Lancet planetary health targets for beef (x- = 657% of target), pork (x- = 587%), poultry (x- = 379%), and eggs (x- = 293%). All universities failed to achieve planetary health targets for legumes and nuts (x- = 39% of the target) and vegetables (x- = 68%). Aligning food procurement with the planetary health diet would result in an estimated average 46.1% reduction in GHG emissions and a 19.7 point increase in HEI scores. Universities that provided cost data saw an average 9.7% reduction in food costs in the EAT-Lancet-aligned scenario. The procurement metrics assessed in this study can help university dining programs and other institutional food service organizations set goals and monitor progress toward planetary health targets.

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Robot technologies could lead to radical changes in farming. But what does the public know and think about agricultural robots? Recent experience with other agricultural technologies-such as plant genetic engineering-shows that public perceptions can influence the pace and direction of innovation, so understanding perceptions and how they are formed is important. Here, we use representative data from an online survey (n = 2269) to analyze public attitudes towards crop farming robots in Germany-a country where new farming technologies are sometimes seen with skepticism. While less than half of the survey participants are aware of the use of robots in agriculture, general attitudes are mostly positive and the level of interest is high. A framing experiment suggests that the type of information provided influences attitudes. Information about possible environmental benefits increases positive perceptions more than information about possible food security and labor market effects. These insights can help design communication strategies to promote technology acceptance and sustainable innovation in agriculture.

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Bread production is a pivotal component of global nutrition. However, its extensive production imposes significant strain on resources and energy, resulting in substantial environmental consequences. This study focuses on a multidimensional assessment of the environmental sustainability of the bread life cycle as a case study in Iran. By integrating four life cycle assessment (LCA) methods, this research demonstrates a comprehensive analysis of environmental effects, energy consumption, and exergy demand in bread production. It also identifies the hotspot stages and inputs within the bread production chain. Eventually, it proposes strategies for mitigating the environmental impacts in line with sustainable development goals. Data collection involved questionnaires by face-to-face interviews. The LCA evaluation was conducted using SimaPro software. Sustainability analysis was assessed using four different methods: CML, ReCiPe, cumulative energy demand (CED), and cumulative exergy demand (CExD) method, from cradle to bakery gate. The CML method results indicate that the highest environmental impacts are associated with marine aquatic ecotoxicity (157.04 to 193.36 kg 1,4-DB eq), fossil fuel depletion (11.05 to 12.73 MJ), eutrophication (4.20 × 10-3 to 4.70 × 10-3 kg PO4-3 eq), acidification (8.09 × 10-3 to 9.16 × 10-3 kg SO2 eq), and global warming (0.61 to 0.69 kg CO2 eq). The ReCiPe method highlights wheat production stages and gas consumption as the most significant contributors to damage in terms of human health, ecosystems, and resource consumption indicators. The CED method reveals that fossil energy accounts for over 97% of the energy consumed during the bread life cycle. Energy consumption per kilogram of bread ranges from 12.07 to 13.93 MJ. The CExD method for producing 1 kg of traditional bread falls between 32.25 and 35.88 MJ. More than 60% of this value is attributed to renewable resources of water used in irrigation during the wheat farming stage, while over 35% is linked to non-renewable fossil resources, primarily due to the consumption of natural gas in bakery operations. To assess the potential decrease in environmental emissions, a sensitivity analysis was performed, considering the effects of substituting natural gas with biogas and grid electricity with photovoltaic electricity in the bakery. Then, three improved scenarios were developed, each demonstrating effective reductions in environmental impacts, with the most remarkable decreases observed in marine aquatic ecotoxicity (55%) and fossil fuel depletion (44%). Overall, the findings demonstrate that Sangak bread production exhibits a more environmentally friendly profile than other types of bread. These results can guide decision-makers in the bread production industry towards implementing sustainable practices that prioritize resource efficiency and environmental conservation. Also, stakeholders can develop strategies to reduce the environmental impacts and work towards a more sustainable future.

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