Exploring Food Sustainability

The products on the supermarket shelves are changing. There are more vegan alternatives such as oat milk, the use of cultivated meat, as well as developed certification for sustainable agriculture such as organics. But, what does this mean? What is food sustainability, and why is it important? This will be discussed below before providing an overview of the initiatives and role of the Food Security and Sustainability Society and how you can get involved.

What is a Sustainable Food System?

The FAO describes a sustainable food system as “a food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised.” (FAO, 2018). Therefore, food sustainability holds three parts:

• Environmental Sustainability - the effects on the natural environment including greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity.

• Social Sustainability - the broad-based benefits such as health, animal welfare, and cultural traditions.

• Economic Sustainability - the profitability of the system.

Consequently, to achieve food sustainability, all three factors must be addressed throughout the global food system, as shown in the Venn Diagram sourced from FAO, 2018. This task is complex with systemic challenges throughout the food system that require cooperation and interconnected actions at the local, national, regional, and global levels.

Venn Diagram to show the interactions between social, economic, and environmental required for a Sustainable Food System (SFS) sourced from FAO, 2018.

Why is Food Sustainability Important?

Food sustainability is important for the environment, the producers, the animals, and the consumers. The current state of the food system is not sustainable: nearly 1 in 3 people face malnutrition whether, through hunger, undernutrition, or obesity (Food Foundation, 2017), many do not earn a living wage and work in poor conditions, others favour production at the expense of the environment, ⅓ of food is wasted globally (Gustavsson et al., 2011) and so much more. Since food is essential for life, this system cannot continue.

Initiative and Role of the Food Security and Sustainability Society

The Food Security and Sustainability Society endeavours to educate, discuss, and actively fight to better the food system through a variety of projects that will be described below.

Planetary Health Meal Plan

This project has been ongoing since December 2020 with the aim to provide easy, sustainable, and healthy meals for students to follow whilst supporting local producers within Edinburgh. There will be instructions in relation to where to source the ingredients and when in line with seasonality and locality. We have a two-week trial running from the 7th of June, and volunteers are needed!

The Plot

The society has a small plot on the Vet campus where a large variety of plants have been planted. This summer will be our first harvest, and we are hopeful for a good one. We welcome anyone to get involved, and are all beginners so welcome advice too!

Panel Discussions

Throughout the academic year we have hosted a variety of open panel discussions with experts to explore topics such as whether veganism is the answer, extinction 2050, and more. All are available to watch through our Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0JiAyuwBvmlTePxq8DAdSA

How You can Get Involved

Follow us on our socials:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uoe.fss.soc/

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/uoe.fss.soc/

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/uoe_fss_soc

• Pop us an Email: uoe.fss.soc@gmail.com

References and Further Reading

• Chen, C., Chaudhary, A., and Mathys, A., (2020) ‘Nutritional and environmental losses embedded in global food waste’ In Resources, Conservation, and Recycling 160. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104912

• FAO (2018) ‘Sustainable Food Systems: Concept and Framework.’ Available: http://www.fao.org/3/ca2079en/CA2079EN.pdf Date Visited: 28th May 2021

• Food Foundation (2017) ‘UK AND GLOBAL MALNUTRITION: THE NEW NORMAL’ In International Learning Series. Available: https://foodfoundation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/1-Briefing-Malnutrition_vF2.pdf Date Visited: 28th May 2021

• Gustavsson, J., Cederberg, C., and Sonesson, U., (2011) Global Food Losses and Food Waste. The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology Available: https://www.madr.ro/docs/ind-alimentara/risipa_alimentara/presentation_food_waste.pdf Date Visited: 28th May 2021

About the Guest Author: Ros Craddock

Ros is a second year Agricultural Science student at the University of Edinburgh. She is also the ‘Social Media and Liason Officer’ for Food Security and Sustainability Society at the University. Her role is focused on the management of all the social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This involves prepping and organising posts, actively engaging with other societies and organisations, and managing interactions.

Edited by Prerna Deep