Sustainable diets: where from and where to?

Abstract

The multilevel dimensions of sustainable diets associating food systems, public health, environmental sustainability, and culture are presented in this paper. It begins by defining sustainable diets as those that are healthful, have low environmental impacts, are affordable, and culturally acceptable. The discussion includes the history of research on sustainable diets, from initial studies focused on environmental impacts to more recent, comprehensive frameworks that integrate affordability, cultural relevance, and nutritional adequacy as key dimensions of diet sustainability. In addition, the paper highlights recent innovations, such as the Planetary Health Diet of EAT-Lancet and the SHARP model, and the conflicts and optimum trade-offs between sustainability and nutrition, particularly within low- and middle-income countries. Case descriptions of Mediterranean Diet with a focus on Traditional Lebanese Diet, and African Indigenous Foods demonstrate culturally confined dietary patterns associated with sustainability objectives. These examples show that sustainable diets are not a single set of prescriptions, but a series of multiple pathways that are shaped by local food environments, ecological belts, and sociocultural heritages. The paper also describes major policy and governance activities necessary to promote sustainable diets. Finally, the paper addresses measurement challenges and advocates for better indicator options to measure sustainable food systems in all their facets and for participatory and context-specific approaches. The discussion concludes that fairer and culturally diverse inclusion strategies, system change, and political determination are imperative in achieving sustainable diets. Diets able to sustain are posited as agents capable of driving the 2030 agenda, enhancing planetary health and social integrity.