Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

The dialogue's key focus was to (i) highlight the urgency for adequate and sustained investments in nutrition in Liberia in order to meet national development agenda targets outlined in the Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development as well as the Sustainable Development Goals; and (ii) amplify the voices rural people living in poverty, especially women farmers and entrepreneurs working in remote areas, on this topic of nutrition and ensure their inclusion in the Global Dialogue Summit. (iii) ensure a multi-stakeholder & inclusive approach to consultations in Liberia ahead of the Globa... Read morel Summit Dialogue Read less

There were few areas of strong divergence, but a number of issues or tensions recurred regularly throughout the meeting: • Planetary health vs Population health This was a topic of strong divergence. Despite the rising levels of NCDs and malnutrition in all its forms, it was considered by some participants that too much focus is given to sustainable diets – producing more resilient crops and enough food (calories) and skewed towards addressing environmental concerns and climate change. Nutrition and the quality of diets must be more strongly recognised as an equal priority in discussions, ... Read morepolicies and actions about sustainable diets and addressing climate change. The alternative views expressed were that the agricultural sector is one of the biggest contributors to climate change and there is more urgency associated with this challenge and thus, is being addressing via mechanisms such as COP26 and the Paris agreement. • Dietary guidelines vs consumer behaviour Although it was agreed that there are some commonalities and differences in existing food based dietary guidelines (FBDG) between countries, they are designed as ‘one-size-fits-all’ despite different nutritional requirements across the lifecourse and the need to develop FBDG tailored to specific populations was clearly identified. Opposing views expressed were that as the majority of citizens do not follow these guidelines anyway, does it really matter? It needs to be acknowledged that there are many reasons behind consumer food choices: people know what the guidelines are but choose to ignore them; not everyone is interested or chooses foods based on health or environmental impacts; there other priorities or barriers, mainly affordability, accessibility and inequalities, but also culture; and social aspects and pleasure which are important for wellbeing. Food environments are currently skewed towards promoting unhealthy food choices and we must make it easier for people to make healthy choices so this becomes the normal practice. There are key roles for food technology/processing and the food industry sector to produce more affordable nutritious foods that people want to eat and for social and behavioural science to develop methodologies and technologies to enable consumer uptake • Livestock vs Plant This is a strong area of divergence. Opinions were expressed that the livestock industry, particularly red meat agriculture is heavily criticised for having negative impacts of the environment and health. There needs to be a shift between the negative perceptions towards unhealthy processed meats as distinguished from eating smaller amounts of good quality meats. Too much focus is also given to meat-based diets with less emphasis on the impact of dairy. The nutritional value of foods such as meat and dairy may outweigh GHG emission, particularly in countries where nutritional intake is relatively poor, or consumption of animal sourced food is low. There needs to be a more balanced approach with nutrition incorporated into an integrated index for human and planetary health. Research investment on livestock farming should focus on making it become more carbon neutral and produce more affordable, nutritious, high quality animal-based foods. Opposing views from participants were that increased production and consumption of plant-based foods is better for both planetary and population health. Although, it was noted that not all plant-based foods are ‘healthy’ depending on the method of cooking or processing and that some plant-only diets may have some unintended consequences for health • Animal-based vs Plant-based proteins There is currently an unbalanced focus on protein when in many countries the majority of citizens consume sufficient quantities of protein (although the quality may differ). It is important to encourage re-balancing of protein from animal- and plant-based sources for planetary health but also consider the changes to micronutrient content and bioavailability and the impact on health. It should also be noted that other macronutrients are important, for example, in the UK the consumption levels of fibre need to be improved. • Transparency vs Health by stealth There was discussion about whether improving the consumption of more nutritious foods & diets should be conducted in a transparent way by consumer information and education to encourage the uptake of healthier foods or to use ‘stealth’ to make the composition of ‘less healthy foods healthier via modifying food production & processing methods such as, gene editing technologies, breeding lines selection, biofortification & food fortification and the reformulation of foods to provide affordable priced products in order to reach the consumers who need it most. • Nutrition vs Taste Evidence suggests that taste, price and convenience tend to be greater determinants of food choice than health, resulting in increased intake of processed foods. Better education & reduced availability of heavily processed, nutrient poor foods could help overcome this. We also need to increase consumer understanding that not all plant-based food products are necessarily healthier, particularly those that are highly- processed foods. Also, when choosing alternatives to animal derived foods, protein content should not be only consideration, other nutrients that are present in animal derived foods also need to be considered • Yield Vs Nutrition Farmers are often focused on yield over nutritional value, incentives to produce more nutritious & environmentally friendly produce would be advantageous. Read less

10. Food System Vision A vital first step in tackling complex interdisciplinary challenges is the need to establish a vision of where we want to get to and what we want future food systems to look like. By gaining acceptance and agreement on common goals for a future food system, research and innovation can focus on areas that will have the greatest impact on achieving that vision. The importance of establishing a common goal was stressed by dialogue attendees using such methods as scenario modelling and foresight analysis. Once this is established, the appropriate metrics to measure the succe... Read moress of meeting this vision can be designed. Actions: • The commissioning of scenario modelling and foresight analysis to help frame common goals for a future food system • High-level commitments on agreeing what a future food system should look like • Agreed metrics on how to measure success of meeting this vision Success: • A shared understanding of the principles and goals of a future food system that progresses towards the SDGs Read less

9. Early Career Researcher training Alongside the need to support interdisciplinary research in tackling food systems challenges, it is critical to support capacity building and early career researchers. There is a need to build a resilient, sustainable research and innovation community with more opportunities for staff mobility between institutes and disciplines, and training for systems thinking and approaches. Large funding programmes can favour established researchers and research groups and should consider an element of future-proofing the sector. Actions: • Sandpit and network style ev... Read moreents for ECRs to discuss food system challenges • Training packages or programmes on systems thinking and systems approaches for ECRs • Greater opportunities for staff mobility between institutes and disciplines Success: • A better connected, interdisciplinary community of early career scientists and innovators building capacity and capability in food systems science. Read less

8. Global Averages There is a need to move away from using global averages when identifying the challenges facing food systems around the world. This approach can miss regional and local concerns which are dependent on regional and local context and can be lost when looking at international and even national data. Applying a one-size-fits-all approach can lead to resentment in areas where this is not appropriate and the building up of mistrust of decision makers. Actions: • Less use of global averages when framing food systems challenges across different contexts • Increased support for re... Read moresearch and innovation that focusses on local and regional challenges Success: • A better appreciation of local and regional challenges with interventions tailored to each specific context Read less

7. Co-creation and co-design of research • Research and innovation that enables us to sustainably deliver affordable, acceptable and nutritious meals every day for everyone is a massive challenge and a range of academic disciplines, the private sectors and other sectors must to come together to deliver this. • It is important nutritionists are involved the co-creation/co-design of research projects that are focussed on food • Stakeholders and end-users of research such as industry, farmers, consumers and policymakers must be involved in the co-creation/co-design of research projects and ... Read moretraining to ensure viable products, uptake and impact of the research. For example, co-designing research with farmers who would be growing the new varieties of nutritionally dense food/crops, because if it takes extra efforts for farmers to grow those varieties without much return on investment then the whole research stays at laboratory level. Just as we have patient participation representatives in the design of human studies, we must involve consumers in food research, there is no point producing food products that consumers will not purchase or eat. This will provide some indication of the economic sustainability of interventions and the research impact in the medium to long-term (e.g. Environmental taxes, acceleration the breeding to marketing cycle) • The co-design of research with stakeholders, end users and civil society has been central in the UKRI Transforming UK Food Systems for Healthy People and a Healthy Environment Programme which has received positive feedback in terms of balancing quality of research with impact focushttps://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/research/foodsystems-spf/ • It is also important to have more active engagement (monitoring/support) during projects and follow-up after completion to help with the dissemination of findings and deliver impact. This has been very successful in the UKRI-BBSRC supported Diet and Health Research Industry Club (DRINC) which was first established in 2008 to support pre-competitive research that investigates the link between diet and health. The research has enabled the food and drink industry to develop products that deliver enhanced health benefits for consumers. https://bbsrc.ukri.org/innovation/sharing-challenges/drinc/ Actions: • UN to encourage research projects and programmes to be co-created and co-designed by a range of academic disciplines and with a wide range of stakeholders and end users of research such as industry, farmers, consumers and policymakers to ensure greater outcomes, uptake and impact of the research Success: • co-designing research and training across disciplines and stakeholders will deliver coherent evidence to enable concerted action from policy, business and civil society. Read less

6. Consumer behaviour • There is distinct gap between knowledge and practice – we know broadly what we should be eating, but how do we get there? The key challenge is how to use our knowledge to influence actual diet across diverse communities to achieve a win-win for human and planetary health. • the 'human' aspect of diets and eating go beyond nutrients. Not everyone is interested in or chooses foods based on health or the environment. They have other priorities of which the major is barrier is affordability of food as well as other influences such as pleasure, cultural and social aspe... Read morects which are more important and effect wellbeing. Decades of research have shown that education alone does not change diets and making information about healthy diets available to people is a very partial solution • Food environments are currently skewed towards promoting unhealthy food choices (advertising, pricing etc) and we need to make it easier for people to make healthy choices so this becomes the normal practice. However, this needs to be balanced as food is also an economic commodity so we need to factor in economics, livelihoods and inequality of access as a driver and impact factor. This could be addressed by integrating data methodologies including qualitative data, modelling and scenario development • We need to help people to better understand what they are eating and to develop interdisciplinary approaches, embedding social/behavioural science (e.g. marketing psychology), to enable this. Methodologies and technologies, such as objective feedback and coaching are crucial, but there is an urgent need to develop better, more objective dietary assessment methods to improve the self-reporting of diet. Currently it is very difficult to capture misreporting (under- and over-reporting of dietary/food intake) • We need robust evidence to make a real difference to diet and health and must develop clear metrics to derive a sustainability index that includes the nutritional quality of food at its center. There are lots of trade-offs to consider such as, food safety (allergenicity), cleanness of label, socio-economics and finding a way between these needs in an environmentally balanced way which is highly complex, particularly considering the different agricultural/food production methods including local production and self-sufficiency • Food technology: interventions at food processing, manufacture and distribution level is key to providing nutritious and affordable food for all. As increased food production alone does not always ensure affordability, regulatory interventions to make nutritious foods affordable are crucial. Actions: • Increased investment in food technology (food processing, manufacture and distribution level) is key to closing the gap in food affordability and providing a culturally acceptable and nutritious diet for all • Integration of data methodologies including qualitative data, modelling and scenario development relating food environments, economics, livelihoods and inequality of access to influence consumer behaviour/food choice • Integrating economic and social science in food systems research to help interventions take account of behaviour and equity of access Success: • A better integrated food systems research community with an appreciation of the importance of economic and social implications of transforming food production and nutritional quality of diets Read less

5. Research & Innovation – the role of technology • While there is a very strong focus on taking a systems or interdisciplinary research approach to address global challenges, it is important that we do not lose sight of the reductionist approaches to challenges where there can be some big wins, for example widening the gene pool of our cultivated wheat varieties • Innovation can take a considerably long time to convert an idea into a product (which is increasingly important to funders and policymakers) and it has been reported that on average, in the agricultural sector the time sca... Read morele is approx. 30 years. Therefore, to deliver the rapid change requested by the UNFSS timeline, we should focus on innovations already in progress along this pathway, improve or more effectively use the ones we currently have • The availability of tools, technology and data can advance a more comprehensive and systems-wide research approach, such as - GM and gene editing techniques which have the potential to deliver quick results with a large impact such as increasing the resilience and nutritional value of crops, fruit and vegetables and livestock - Using AI, modelling, data integration and platforms, digital twin technology to capture, increase understanding and manage the complexity of, food chain supply and high throughput testing systems to determine nutrient compositions and status • The development and translation of technologies needs to be tensioned against the needs and capabilities of smallholder farmers in the developing world (who make up a significant proportion of agriculture). A better understanding of rural issues and more support for rural infrastructure with low-tech solutions should be factored in Actions: • UN to encourage changes to local and National policies, particularly those surrounding the use of GM/GE • Reduce the barriers to getting nutritious crops with improved functionality onto commercial lists and accelerating the breeding to marketing cycle • AI, modelling and digital twins to capture and manage the complexity that currently exists in the food system (e.g. environmental issues, human health, behaviour and inequalities). This will enable us to develop a better understanding of the divergences and trade-offs • Link food, health, and personalised food service (i.e., increasing use of online food shopping, food delivery services) using big data • Develop an integrated index for human and planetary health for monitoring purposes • Develop accurate & robust biomarkers (biomes) to allow the evaluation and monitoring of nutritional status and enabling early interventions to improve human health. These need to be simple to collect easily at scale • develop high throughput, cost-effective tests to determine and subsequently improve nutrient compositions and nutritional profiles for crop breeding lines/animal breeds, harvested products, raw materials, processing & storage, food formulation and cooking/shelf life Success: • Widespread use of tools and technologies to aid understanding of the nutrient quality of food once consumed and the impact this has on health outcomes • Increased support for rural smallholder famers with affordable technological solutions to relevant issues Read less

4. Food loss/waste • The post-harvest stage is often over-looked, but this is a key component of the food system. A reduction of food and nutrient loss during the post-harvest and processing phases is essential. Food loss often occurs at entry into the processing system. For example, large proportions of grain gets rejected, of which some passes into livestock feed and rejection levels increase with severe weather events. Actions: • Invest in stable post-harvest processes, such as low-cost cool supply and storage chains, to provide economic security to farmers by preventing spoilage and de... Read moregradation, developed with the whole system and energy efficiency in mind. • develop better methods of processing foods to reduce nutrient loss Success: • improvements in reducing food lost and waste at production/post-harvest stage can be a quick win Read less

3. Improving the nutrition quality of food in a changing environment • Animal based foods provide many nutrients important for human nutrition which are not found in plant-based foods or the plant form cannot be digested or absorbed as efficiently by humans. However, current pressures from animal welfare policies in the UK are making it harder to farm livestock in an environmentally friendly way. • Collaborations between plant and clinical scientists would remove the bottleneck between enhancing nutrition in plant studies and human trials by enabling preparatory work to improve understandi... Read moreng of/ remove barriers in project design, translation and impact • Stronger collaborations between industry and researchers are needed to improve nutritional profiles across all food groups and not just among niche products with perceived higher economic value, e.g. higher vitamin D in eggs with no price increase for consumer • Currently industry do not use gold standard accredited tests for nutrition screening as they are too expensive and time-consuming. High-throughput, cost-effective assays to determine nutrient composition need to be developed and could be used to improve labelling to inform the consumer about what they are eating • Also need simplified, but accurate methods to measure bioavailability and absorption of nutrients in humans in real life environments. • Bioavailability: There are many gaps in our understanding of nutrient bioaccessibility and bioavailability and the disconnect with the nutrient composition of food(s). Bioavailability is difficult to measure and is affected by meal composition and nutritional status/physiological requirements of the consumer, e.g. phytochemicals (phytates) and phenolic compounds (tannins) can bind important micronutrients such as Iron, Calcium and Zinc and make them unavailable to be absorbed by our intestinal cells. A better understanding of what happens to nutrients along the food chain from soil to production to processing to consumer is needed Actions: • Cross-collaboration across the different disciplines and sectors (agricultural, environmental, clinical and social sciences, nutritionists, livestock & crop farmers, industry, investors & retailors) is needed to advance the area – all whilst bearing the consumer in mind. • Research on livestock farming should focus on making it become more carbon neutral and produce more affordable, nutritious, high quality animal-based foods and reduce population consumption of more processed foods, particularly those high in saturated fat, sugar and/or salt. • The UN should encourage international legislation to focus the marketing of processed foods on nutritional quality (both composition and bioavailability of nutrients) • develop high throughput, cost-effective tests to determine and subsequently improve nutrient compositions and nutritional profiles for crop breeding lines/animal breeds, harvested products, raw materials, processing & storage, food formulation and cooking/shelf life • develop a real understanding of bioavailability of essential nutrients (e.g minerals) from soil to consumer and at the food level with human studies to progress and eventually predict the nutritional value of foods once consumed. Success: • Better cross-disciplinary work across all stakeholders and different countries to produce high impact work. • high-throughput nutritional screening assays for industry • Better food labelling • Improved nutrient flow and reduced nutrient loss along the food chain • processing to maximise the use of existing nutrients from a range of sources to produce affordable, healthy processed foods with a balanced nutritional profile which also address sustainability/waste issues Read less

2. Sustainable healthy diets Nutrition and the quality of diets need to be more strongly recognised in the discussions, policies and actions about sustainable diets and addressing climate change. There are large knowledge gaps on the impact of what we eat on livelihoods, environment, ecosystems etc. We need a broader understanding of the connections between the different parts of the whole system and the impact on the planet. At present, much of the evidence is focused on GHG emissions whereas wider aspects such as cost, water usage, land use, cultural acceptability are being overlooked. What ... Read morewill the impact of a move toward more plant-based diets be on the food system and on achieving nutrient requirements? Due to COVID, individuals have become more aware of food systems and the concerns of the environmental impacts on the planet. A more balanced approach is required, e.g. the impacts of seeds and plant-based diets, such as pulses, should take into account the processing and energy taken to turn them into ingredients that people want to eat. The nutritional value of foods such as meat and dairy may outweigh GHG emission, particularly in countries where nutritional intake is relatively poor, or consumption of animal sourced food is low. We need ensure that nutrition and locally relevant data are included when considering sustainable diets and environmental impact. Actions: • Establish a clear challenge about how food systems might meet global and local needs in terms of nutrition/health and the environment. No one size fits all and there will be different challenges in HIC & LMIC countries. • More work is needed on the balance between nutrition and the environmental impacts of production and supply chains, for example, the metric ‘food miles’ does not currently take into consideration the impact of farm worker migration, supporting local economies (e.g. food exports), and better gender equality in LMICs, compared to the sustainability of food imports. • Integrated index: Incorporate nutritional quality into lifecycle analysis. Adopting this approach across different nutrients will give a sounder basis for decision-making. It will also need to include other dimensions such as water, SES. Provide accessible information for consumers, based on robust evidence, about the environmental impacts of their food choices • Additional research is required to look at the balance between the point at which the higher environmental footprint of some nutrient-dense foods is offset by their higher nutritional value • Build on available technology and the good practical research being undertaken in processing to reduce impact on planetary health (energy & water usage) to add value quickly and potentially make some traditionally negative planet health foods kinder to the environment • Develop the use of accurate & robust biomarkers (biomes) to allow the evaluation and monitoring of nutritional status and enabling early interventions to improve health. These need to be simple to collect easily at scale. • Grow more food in urban areas in an environmentally friendly way to reduce supply chains and increase the accessibility and affordability of seasonally produced and fresh food to individuals who need it most. This will also assist in reducing food miles. Success: • Good food system (whole chain) data production and analyses – using data better to give a clearer understanding of situation and sound basis for routes forward • An integrated index for human and planetary health informed by robust evidence base is developed and established • Established toolbox of nutritional and health biomarkers for use at individual and population level • Advances in technology research and building on current processing research for quick wins Read less

1. Dietary guidelines Nutrition is fundamentally important for health, but it is difficult to define the optimum healthy diet for a healthy human, particularly given the diversity of the global population. Dietary guidelines have been in place for many years with much focus given to avoiding nutrient deficiencies, but the prevalence of poor nutrition, NCDs and obesity is rising which is major global challenge. While there are commonalties when comparing food based dietary guidelines (FBDG) from different countries, differences occur to reflect the cultural differences in foods, as well as vari... Read moreations in their level of detail, how they are employed and the level population adherence. For example, the FBDG in some countries consider other aspects such as environmental, food safety, dietary habits and food preparation. Therefore, we need to reassess whether the existing guidelines are adequate as a basis for making diets more sustainable, fit for purpose in meeting nutritional requirements and how we can better align them? The Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) have conducted a number of systemic reviews on European FBDG (Tetens et al. 2020; BJN; doi:10.1017/S0007114520002469). In addition, a UK study reported health and environmental benefits were associated with higher adherence to UK national dietary recommendations (the Eatwell Guide) (Scheelbeek et al. 2020; BMJ Open; doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037554). While there is sufficient knowledge to be able to produce generic food based dietary guidelines, it is important to develop a better understanding of how FBDG can be tailored to specific population groups to address the health targets which vary across nations and consider environmental aspects. Actions: • more detail about micronutrient bioavailability from different food sources and fully understand the impact of gender, genetic variability, age, geography, culture/diets, climate, infection (how the gut responds to an adequate diet or if the gut functioning differs with infection) on diet, and the comparable and different nutritional/dietary requirements in low vs high-income countries • international collaboration to support and develop sustainable food based dietary guidelines that are tailored to specific population groups and incorporate environment aspects Success: • focused dietary guidelines that holistically reflect the interactions between nutrition, health and sustainability and are tailored to specific population groups so that the cultural and costs aspects are considered alongside the more commonly considered aspects and are based on robust scientific evidence • robust food compositional data, including information on micronutrient bioavailability, particularly for novel, niche and plant-based foods • Improved methods for objectively assessing dietary intake, that integrate modern technologies Read less

We need to move away from using global averages when identifying the challenges facing food systems around the world. This approach can miss regional and local concerns which are dependent on regional and local context and can be lost when looking at international and national data. Applying a one size fits all approach can lead to resentment in areas where this is not appropriate and the building up of mistrust of decision makers. The importance of place-based solutions rather than world-based solutions were highlighted • Greater consideration of the economic sustainability of interventions... Read more made in the food system is recommended. This aspect is not always factored into research led by biological, environmental & social drivers and should be given greater prominence in future funding mechanisms. If the economics of research impact is not considered then the likelihood of successful interventions is reduced. • A diverse range of researchers, stakeholders & end-users need to be involved in the co-creation/co-design of projects to ensure viable products, uptake and impact of the research and achieve a sustainable system that delivers affordable, nutritious & safe food for all • To support interdisciplinary research in tackling food systems challenges, we need to support the building of a resilient research & innovation community of early career researchers, including more opportunities for staff mobility between institutes and disciplines, and training for systems thinking & approaches. • Much discussion focused on the complexity of the food system and the need for interdisciplinary approaches to tackle the challenges. A vital first step in this process is to establish a vision of where we want to get to and what we want future food systems to look like. It is important to establish a common goal using methods such as scenario modelling and foresight analysis, then we can design the best metrics to measure the success of meeting this vision. • It is very importance to be able to accurately measure and monitor the nutritional composition of foods & diets, and to better understand the nutrient bioavailability, bioaccessibility & uptake across the food chain from the soil to food as consumed including crop/animal breeding lines, harvested products, raw materials, processing & storage, food formulation & composition, cooking/shelf life, and biomarkers for human health outcomes. This requires the development of high-throughput, cost-effective assays, technologies and robust methods to identify where nutrient loss occurs across the food system and the impact of a range of factors that influence this. • The importance of plant-based diets were recognised, but there are many unknowns with much evidence focused on GHG emissions and wider aspects such as nutritional contribution/quality, cost, water & lane use, cultural acceptability, health, socioeconomic and geographical factors being overlooked. A more balanced approach is required • Despite the trend towards more plant-based diets, animal-based foods are still nutritionally important and research should focus on making livestock farming more carbon neutral and produce more affordable, nutritious, high quality animal-based foods. If intakes of animal-based foods are reduced, the essential nutrients they provide (not just protein) need to be readily accessible in bioavailable form from other sources. • Developing integrated indexes for human and planetary health were highlighted as vitally important • There was strong agreement that to address global challenges, systems/interdisciplinary research and multi-sector approaches are crucial. However, it is important that we do not lose sight of reductionist approaches to challenges where there can be some big wins • To deliver the actions and rapid change requested by the UNFSS, we should focus on research innovations already in progress along this pathway and improve or more effectively use the ones we currently have • The availability of tools, technology and data can advance a more comprehensive and systems-wide research approach, such as using AI, modelling, data integration & GM/gene editing techniques which have the potential to deliver quick results with a large impact. The UN needs to encourage countries to change local and National policies to use these technologies for human and planet benefit. However, the development and translation of technologies need to be tensioned against the needs and capabilities of smallholder farmers in the developing world by building a better understanding of rural issues and more support for rural infrastructure with low-tech solutions • Improvements to reduce food waste and nutrient loss at production/post-harvest stage can be a quick win to improve progress against the SDGs. Investing in stable post-harvest processes will provide economic security to farmers by preventing spoilage and degradation, developed with the whole system and energy efficiency in mind and contribute to improve human health • As poor nutrition, NCDs and obesity levels continue to rise globally, it was agreed that existing food based dietary guidelines need to be re-evaluated to determine whether they are adequate as a basis for making diets more sustainable, fit for purpose in meeting nutritional requirements and how they can be tailored to specific population groups, based on robust scientific evidence • More food should be grown in urban areas in an environmentally friendly way to reduce supply chains and increase accessibility and affordability of fresh food to individuals who need it most Read less

Purpose: The UKRI-BBSRC dialogue focussed on discussion on the importance of nutrition and the need to integrate research and innovation across agriculture, food, nutrition and health while considering effects on the environment and inequalities. It was intended to: • create a virtual event to bring together a diverse range of research communities, industry, policy makers and other stakeholders across the agriculture, food, nutrition and health nexus to discuss and identify the key research and innovation challenges, opportunities and solutions to break down the barriers between disciplines ... Read moreand sectors to advance progress of the SDGs • discuss the importance of integrating nutrition research with environmental and social sciences, and highlight the divergences and convergences that may arise Context: The sustainable provision of safe and nutritious food for all is vital to address the global challenges of malnutrition, rising levels of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and to promote overall population health. At the same time, food production must be resilient and adapt to climate change and consider its impact on the environment and social inequalities. Transformation of the food system must consider sustainability, and nutrition and dietary needs at all levels from production through to consumption if it is to meet these challenges. Improving nutrition and food-related health outcomes while building resilience into the food system requires a multisectoral approach to understand the transfer of nutrients through the agricultural system* from soil to food to human health. However, integrating research across these sectors and translating this research into impact is a significant challenge. UKRI-BBSRC is ideally placed to support research which spans this nexus and worked with partners to convene a dialogue which brought together diverse research communities and stakeholders to identify the challenges and opportunities for research and innovation, and to discuss science solutions to bridge the gap between agriculture and health by preserving nutrition across the food chain and support the building of a resilient global food system that is sensitive to nutritional and environmental outcomes and social inequalities. *agricultural system includes horticulture, arable crops, livestock, fisheries/aquaculture and non-traditional food production methods. The dialogue started with three presentations to establish the context of the meeting and set the scene of the research and innovation landscape - highlighting unknowns, evidence gaps, challenges and emerging areas to facilitate open discussion in the seven breakout groups and plenary session. These were framed around three themed questions: • What is a healthy, nutritious diet for population and planetary health? • How can we improve linkages between agriculture and health research to produce an affordable, accessible and nutritious diet for all in a changing world? • What is the role of research and innovation in improving the nutrition quality of food in changing world? Participants were asked to consider and discuss a series of questions under each theme, for example: • What do we need to know, or do we know enough, about healthy diets for all? • What contributions will research make to achieving a healthy diet and healthy planet? • How can we improve interdisciplinary research across agriculture, food, nutrition and health to achieve a healthy, sustainable diet? What are the key research and innovation challenges and how can we overcome these? • What are the key contributions research can make to improving the nutrition quality of food in a changing environment? • What actions should be taken in the next 3 years that will have greatest impact and why? If you were Director General of the UN, what is the one thing you would do? (e.g. address a specific challenge, remove a barrier, are there examples of what has worked well that could be expanded on etc?). • How will it be possible to tell if these actions are being successful? • What are the divergences/trade-offs that are revealed and how to manage them? Read less

It was brilliant and quite fascinating to see that although our participants came from many different places in the world, there were similar core challenges no matter where they came from and innovative solutions taking place.

Driving food supplies to do the right thing for children and empowering families to demand affordable nutritious food for all children and youth are two of the most important outcomes for the next 10 years in a country's development: Driving food supplies to do the right thing for children is certainly needed but the change needs to come from policy level. Government intervention is urgently needed to stop the commercialisation of food in schools and universities. Many catering companies pay schools and universities to be able to serve their food there resulting in the catering companies searc... Read morehing to make a profit elsewhere by either taking out contracts with processed food companies and/or using cheap food in their catering. This needs to stop and kitchens need to be brought back to all schools As well as driving food supplies to do the right thing for children, supply chains should be shortened wherever possible - the closer children are to food growing or growing it themselves either in school or community garden the more likely they are to be interested in and appreciate it. One of the most effective things a country could do over the next 10 years would be to train teachers in their PGCE the importance of good, real, whole, nutritious food for children. In their training, teachers should be taught the physiological implications of poor diet and and the negative effect of obesity on IQ and cortex development as well as the link between food and behaviour/concentration in class. If children do not have access to their fundamental right to good food, - nutrient dense food and not just calories - they are also less likely to partake in academic learning so it is in the teachers interest to make sure children and youth are fed properly. If teachers were taught the importance of this in training, they would be less likely to accept unhealthy or cheap food in the schools they work in. Food can bring context to teaching in many subjects - Food for Life provides resources and lesson plans to do just this. Sometimes, messaging, teaching and advertising around healthy food can be quite dry -fun needs to be brought back into teaching healthy food and lifestyle habits. TastEd uses an evidence based approach using the senses - as applied in Finland for the early years curriculum- to help children to learn to like and enjoy eating healthy foods. The early years are so important for shaping dietary preferences and using the senses to explore food is a great tool for teachers and is great for giving kids the opportunity to explore and experience veg and fruit in a non-pressured way, away from meal times with their peers. This also takes some pressure off parents to instigate healthy eating habits. In Food for Life initiatives, schools have a School Nutrition Action Group which is pupil led and so empowers children to look after their own health. Teachers also need to be taught the link between food and climate change - if we changed our food systems, this could have a massively positive effect on climate change. If food supplies did the right thing for children, it would also have a positive effect on the climate and environment. Student exchanges from urban to rural schools and vice versa is a great idea. The Wheel of the year should be celebrated to give children a sense of connection to the changing seasons and school trips to see food growing should also be common place at schools. In some parts of the UK, there are local schemes to plant fruit trees in parks. not only is this a fantastic idea, but it brings children and the community closer to food, especially in urban areas but it also makes way for community initiatives to get together to look after the trees and furthermore can provide food for the homeless. Empowering communities is as important as empowering families. When we talk to people, we need to talk about real issues & not just small talk. We will use our voices to instigate change, get politicians involved and lobby them for change. It is not right that we still have hungry people worldwide and this needs to change. We can use social media for good to raise awareness about nutrition for school children. Read less

The reduction/elimination of chronic disease in adults is founded in healthy and nutritious food for children and youth - building healthy lifestyle and positive food habits: Food education in schools and initiatives highlighted in the previous discussion topic such as school gardens and school cooking classes that also teach parents should be prioritised and given financial support by the government in order to eliminate the health crisis we are facing long term. The money spent on chronic illness could be prevented by ensuring people eat real food. Children need a broad and comprehensive foo... Read mored education to be able to navigate the food system and be healthy consumers of sustainable diets. Parents need to know that they have the power to demand change over school food systems and school meals decisions. Emphasis should be placed on the importance of community in this. Educating parents and children is important but if building healthy lifestyle and positive food habits can be embedded into a community, everyone benefits. E.g there is a school feeding program in Benin where the community created the school garden and tends to the school garden, growing the food which feeds the school children and has food left over to go to the community living in proximity to the school. The parents therefore know exactly what their children are eating and the close proximity of the growing food means that the meals are fresh and nutritious. The benefits of projects like this are tangible but they also need financial support. The government has a responsibility to provide funding for initiatives like this when there is so much evidence to support how successful they can be. Rural schools are often space-rich and should be empowered to start these initiatives; inner-city should be encouraged to look at installing roof top vegetable beds to bring students closer to real whole food. Furthermore, India’s school feeding program feeds 100,000,000 children every day and a paper recently released showed evidence that this mid-day meal had a significant positive impact on the health of the children of the children who grew up eating this meal every day. Now that we know how successful this is, the nutritional content of the meal needs scrutinised and power given back to communities to decide what goes into these mid-day meals from their local vicinity including indigenous crops. To promote healthy eating habits in communities, fund chefs to run community cooking workshops whether online or in person to help teach parents and other members of the public how to cook. This could also be done is a community supermarket if it has its own kitchen. Since doctors only receive 8 hours of nutrition training in their degree and there is an ever growing base of evidence to support the connection between diet and mind and body health, nutritionist and dieticians should be a larger part of the health service. Each GP should have a nutritionist where patients who would benefit from lifestyle and diet changes can go and have a longer appointment. There are initiatives such as Culinary Medicine UK which provide training to doctors in nutrition with a chef and a dietician. Interdisciplinary work such as this can play a key role in connecting the missing dots between diet and poor health outcomes. Power needs to be taken away from the pharmaceutical industry in controlling the approach to public health and be placed back into the hands of the individual. We need to move from disease care and to preventive health care universally but also to prevent children from damaging their microbiome through antibiotics at a young age. Access to good food is a right for everyone and there needs to be resources for new parents to learn not just about breastfeeding but also about nutrition for their children. Spices and herbs have been used for millennia to heal and promote good health within the human body, the active ingredients of which are in many pharmaceutical drugs. The link between food and medicine needs to be taught to young people so it empowers them to be interested in these powerful, healing foods. Read less

Improving health and nutrition for children and youths relies on prioritising good food, reducing advertising for processed and junk food and connecting children to local, sustainable, nutritious and affordable whole food from a young age: Currently in the UK less than 2% of Food and Drink advertising goes towards advertising healthy food. Therefore not only should advertising be reduced for processed food but governments should actively fund advertising to promote healthy food and consumption habits and be matched by in-school campaigns that have shown to be hugely successful in engaging yout... Read moreh and encouraging them to be active citizens in developing their food system. Children naturally know what is good for them if they are not mislead. Advertising which glamourises unhealthy food should be banned and in places such as petrol stations unhealthy snacks should not be on display so much as children are attracted by the bright packaging. Bring back school cooking lessons - food literacy should be prioritised as part of the curriculum. There are many wonderful schemes and charities working with schools but they are usually one-off events. We need food education to be embedded in schools to help shift the publics preferences and behaviours: eg in the UK, Food For Life initiatives should be supported in schools by the government. Connection to nature is fundamental for children to learn about food and it is also very good for their mental health. The closer children are to growing food, and knowing where it comes from, the more excited they are likely to get about it and there is evidence to suggest that when children do these activities at school, they are more likely to eat their 5 a day at home. Food literacy needs to happen both at school and at home. Drawing parallels between Africa and Ireland, sometimes even when children are educated at school, they go home and all the effort is lost as the parents either do not understand or cannot afford to eat more nutritious food. We have to take a holistic approach looking at the whole picture. As a society we have lost the skills to use affordable nutritious food at home. In order to support parents in providing good nutrition regardless of budget and background, not only do we need to look to schools where parents can be invited in to take part in cooking, but also in less obvious places such as Sure Start centres in the UK which could positively benefit families who are struggling. In India, mobile teaching kitchens have been used to teach parents how to cook and would be a great initiative in other countries As suggested in the report by the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, schools should be ‘healthy zones’. Unhealthy food environments, particularly in secondary schools, compromises pupils’ ability to make good food choices. We should protect children from advertising, ultra processed foods and counter it with education and good quality food available at school. Schools should be hubs for health within communities to ensure young people are receiving appropriate food education. More support should be given to the school workforce; improvements in food education qualifications and resources are needed and stronger reporting and evaluation needs to be in place. Chefs in particular can play a major role in this food education especially when chefs are incorporated into the school ecosystem - giving cooking lessons and engaging the children in what they eat. School cooks have a huge opportunity to influence children's diet. Chefs need to be paid a living wage to to do this. The wider Chef community are an important voice for communicating what good and whole food is, can explain to people how to eat the rainbow and its benefits. There also needs to be much more interaction between chefs and those who are providing school meals. Governments especially in parts of India and Africa need to look at subsidising and championing indigenous varieties of food such as millet and fonio which are more nutritious than traditionally subsidised wheat and rice crops. This would make the the nutritious food more affordable and would support women who are often the smaller scale farmers. Read less

The origins of the health crisis we are currently facing in the west and certainly in the UK of obesity and overweight, has its origins in the education of children, youth and parents which should be prioritised and given financial support by the government. Nutrition needs to be prioritised for the first 21 years of life as non-communicable and chronic disease has its origins in the cells of our young people. We need to see the investment in the learner ages 0-21 as investments in the future to prevent illness and lifestyle diseases. Teachers can play a key role in this education. If they wer... Read moree trained about the importance of diet in their PGCEs, they would be less likely to accept poor food systems in the their schools. (see discussion topic 3) Community can also play a key role in this; encouraging everyone to be active members in their food system and use their voices for change. Schools could be at the centre of urban growing initiatives (example given in discussion topic 2) in support of their community and vice versa. We need to be a part of nature’s ecosystem again and show children how to be part of that ecosystem rather than detached from it. It is important to listen to the voice of children, empower them with the knowledge to recognise healthy and nutritious food, how they identify with it culturally and understand how the food they eat affects them. Children intuitively know what is good for them when we connect them to nature. Supply chains should be shortened wherever possible - the closer children are to food growing or growing it themselves either in a school or community garden the more likely they are to be interested in it and appreciate it. Not only can Chefs play a key role in school ecosystems but they are also key in communicating what good, whole food is and how we can cook it and make it taste good. In many countries in Africa, malnutrition and obesity lives side by side. This is a direct result of urbanisation and the glamorisation of fast food. In these countries, effort needs to be made to eliminate the stigma around growing your own food so that is no longer seen as poverty but community initiatives could come together to create urban gardens and remove the stigma. Chefs can play a major role in removing this stigma and teaching people how to cook with indigenous varieties of crops. Indigenous and heritage varieties of food should be prioritised for subsidies by governments when they are more nutritious than rice and wheat. Indigenous food should also be included in school feeding program meals and communities should have a say in what food is used for these meals & be able to shorten supply chains using locally grown food giving children nutrient dense food and not empty calories just to fill their bellies. Providing school meals and school feeding programs is good, but the food also has to be nutritious as this has a direct impact on learning & concentration. Food literacy i.e -the skills and knowledge for how to be healthy for life needs to be prioritised as part of school curriculums. Cooking and Nutrition was introduced into the English national curriculum for all 5-14 year olds in 2014, but no study or evaluation has since taken place on how it is being delivered. Food education and learning should be managed by an official body such as Ofsted. Where food literacy is not yet part of the curriculum, it should not be forgotten how relevant food is in so may subjects at school from languages, to history, to geography, there is no subject into which food cannot be incorporated and be used as an enriched learning tool. Food literacy needs to happen in tandem at school and at home and we can use innovative ideas to help teach parents how to cook such as mobile teaching kitchens which have already been shown to be successful in India and funding chefs to give community cooking classes. Exercise and teaching the importance of staying active needs to be a compulsory part of the curriculum worldwide. Governments should actively fund advertising to promote healthy foods, healthy, sustainable consumption habits and the importance of movement and exercise and follow up with a school roll out around the campaigns. Social media platforms should give free advertising for healthy food and lifestyle adverts. Governments need to intervene to stop the commercialisation of food in schools, hospitals and universities. The importance of chefs in these setting needs to be recognised. Ultra processed foods should be taxed by the government and additives in food should be reduced and some banned in order to prevent compulsive consumption. Some artificial colours and preservatives that should be banned worldwide are E-numbers tartrazine (E102), quinoline yellow (E104), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), ponceau 4R (E124) and allura red (E129); the dangers of which are well known and are known to cause hyperactivity, are linked to stomach upsets and swelling of skin. Power needs to be taken away from the pharmaceutical industry in controlling the approach to public health and placed back into the hands of the individual. We need to move from disease care to preventive health care.Nutritionists should be available for appointments at GP surgeries and new parents should see a nutritionist as part of their baby care lessons. People do not realise the power that they do have over their own health and the earlier food literacy is taught, the earlier connection to nature is realised, the more we will have populations that are able to take care of their own health. Read less

The triple burden of malnutrition – undernutrition, hidden hunger and overweight – threatens the survival, growth and development of children and young people worldwide. Well-nourished children are better able to grow, learn, participate in their communities and be resilient in the face of adversity. Having read the scientific paper for Action Track 1 and with the recent controversy around schools meals throughout Covid-19, especially - but not limited to - the UK, we decided to look deeper into how we can feed all children better. The following areas were identified by the scientific grou... Read morep for Action Track 1 in order to put children’s nutrition rights first: Empower families, children, young people and women to demand affordable nutritious food; Drive food supplies to do the right thing for children; Build healthy food environments for all children; Mobilise supportive systems to scale up nutrition results for every child; Collect, analyse and use good-quality data and evidence regularly to guide action and track progress. Through the Dialogue, we wanted to expand on these points and encourage collaboration among the different stakeholders invited as well as across sectors in different countries. Key statistics: • In the UK, 1 in 4 school pupils aged 11-15 are obese • Teenagers consume on average 8 times the recommended daily sugar allowance • Only 1 in 12 young people aged 11-18 eat five portions of fruit and vegetables every day • Approximately 36,000 children and young people under 19 have diabetes in the UK • London has more overweight and obese children than any other global city • Poor children are more likely than better off children to suffer from poor health as a result of food insecurity. • Worldwide, 38.2 million children under the age of 5 years were overweight or obese in 2019 and the prevalence of over overweight among children and adolescents aged 5-19 has risen dramatically from just 4% in 1975 to just over 18% in 2016. Read less