A NET ZERO FUTURE YOUTH IN ACTION
Sustainable diets for beginners:
I am speaking to you from the
Agriculture is biggest user of land and water, and contributes to GHG 50% of habitable land, 69% of water withdrawals
21% of GHG
77% of ag land is used for livestock (93% in US: includes feed) 86% of land lost to deforestation between 2000 and 2010 was due to ag
Habitat loss has reduced species abundance by 85% Wheat, corn, rice and soy are almost half of all cropland Most corn and soy are fed to livestock
FAV are only 2% of all agricultural land
No country has included agriculture completely in carbon pricing or polluter pays. Ag policies subsidize agriculture production, pollution
Globally, 1/3 of all food is wasted = 3.3 Gt CO2e per year
In US,40% of all food is wasted
Globally, 37% of cereals, 58% of FAV, 18% of dairy, 23% of meat and 40% of fish wasted Wasted food means wasted land, water, energy, habitat, species loss, and extra CO2e emissions.
Health impacts of our food system
Globally, 22% of all deaths can be attributed to diet. Half of these deaths were attributable to excess sodium, too few whole grains, and too few fruits and vegetables (GBD, 2019)
10 country study: 41% of all shelf space was allocated to soda and junk food alone. The greater the shelf space devoted to
unhealthy foods, the higher was national BMI (Norman, Hoffman, and Cheskin, 2014).
Why are Americans overweight?
Processed foods account 61% of calories alone and along
with ultra processed food, for over three-quarters of
calorie intake in the US (Poti et al., 2015)
Food processors manipulate sugar, salt and fat in
processed foods and in baby foods
Eating ultra-processed foods increases risk of
cardiovascular disease (Srour et al., 2019), cancer (Fiolet
et al, 2018) and dying from a chronic disease
What would the landscape look like if it
followed nutrition recommendations?
How do we decide what to eat?
What is put on the table (Lewin, 1943)Channel Theory focused on the gatekeeper, availability, food channels, eating groups and frames of reference
Still relevant - who decides what is available, appropriate food, what we eat?
5 food companies own 2/3 of all global food brands (Ramsey,2003) 97% of the US$ 13.5 billion spent on food advertising in the US for unhealthy products (Harris et al., 2019; PwC, 2018)
World’s 12 largest food brands
-
in billions of US$Parent Company US$ Brands, commodities
Nestle (Swiss) 91.4 candies, coffees, Gerber baby food, Hot Pockets, Perrier, Stouffer’s, Carnation
PepsiCo (US) 64.7 sodas, Quaker Oats, Cheetos, Tropicana juices Aunt Jemima, Rice-a-Roni
ADM (US) 64.3 Flours, grains, beans, oils, sweeteners, feed, ethanol Unilever (UK, Dutch) 62.7 Lipton, Hellman’s, Skippy, Ben & Jerry’s, margarines Anheuser-Busch 55 Bass, Becks, Budweiser, Kirin Ichiban with Kirin, Stella
InBev (BE) Artois, Michelob, Rolling Rock, St. Pauli Girl, 100+ other JBS (Brazil) 51.5 Swift, Tyson Poultry in Brazil and Mexico, Moy Park
Cargill Pork, GNP (premium US poultry brand) Tyson (US) 40.1 Jimmy Dean, Ball Park, Hillshire Farms, IBP, meats, ham,
bacon, pepperoni, pizza crusts and toppings, meal kits Mars (US) 35 candies, Wrigley, Uncle Ben’s rice
Coca-Cola (US) 31.9 sodas, bottled teas, bottled waters
Heineken (Dutch) 30.4 Amstel, Desperados, Lagunitas, Moretti, Red Stripe, Sol, Tecate, Tiger, various ciders
Choice? Food retailers have surpassed brands
93% of the food eaten at home in US is purchased from hypermarkets, large grocery chains, and convenience stores. The rest is purchased mostly from drug stores and hard discount stores (FAO, 2017)
Five food retailers in the US sold 48% of groceries (Costco, 2018; Dudlicek, 2018): Wal-Mart, Kroger, Albertson’s, Costco, and Ahold Delhaize USA
40,000 items in US grocery stores, most are highly processed (Toops, 2017). Slotting fees and private labels
Slotting fees - brands pay (e)retailers for space
2% of grocery sales (total grocery profit 2.5%) Private labels - retailers sell their own brands
Our food choices occur within a supply chain
- we choose what is available to us
We choose what is familiar, tasty, convenient, economical
Few of us think about the health, environmental, or social
How to make more sustainable food choices:
Trusted Supplier, Diet, Food Labels?
Trusted Supplier
-store, brand, farmer, market - food cooperatives in US Diet
-less meat, minimize processed food -more FAV, seeds, whole grains
Diet, a simple way to make a difference
Minimize Consumption of processed foods
animal products
Does that means you should never eat these? No,
Consumers are faced with an increasing
number of food labels
Food labels must have standards,
enforcement, transparency to be effective Standards - written, clear goal,
understandable
Enforcement - certification and
consequences for violation
Transparency - accessible information,
traceability
Clear Standards
- weaker than some wanted - stronger, than initial proposal Enforcement
- inspections to certify, fines for violation
Transparency
- somewhat weak
Trust - target of misinformation
Organic labels in EU and Australia
Preferences for EU label versus national label
- Spanish, trust EU label more than national label - French, trust national label more than EU label Australia has a single international label
but multiple labels within Australia - Australian consumers are confused
Multiple labels undermine goal
Local food - contrast the US and EU USA: No standards
subjective, state? no enforcement misinformation
Farmers Markets, CSA standards vary
Americans like to
believe what they want
Europe provenance food labels
Standards, Enforcement, Transparency, Tracability European labels for production methods
Identity preservation
Label design is also important
Color:
Stoplight labels - green, yellow, red to covey information
Content:
Carbon Trust carbon footprint failed in UK people claim they did not understand it Certification:
Conclusion
We have less real choice
Retailers and brands form our choices Few companies meet sustainability goals
Labels provide consumers with some information However, it puts a lot of work on consumers
We need to use/promote/develop labels based on Standards, Certification/Enforcement,
Transparency, Traceability
Consumers must trust and understand labels Simply choosing to waste less food and
eat less meat and processed foods
Thanks for watching
A N E T Z E R O F U T U R E Y O U T H I N A C T I O N
Questions? Professor Lydia Zepeda
