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academies
Nov 22-23, 2018 | Paris, France
Joint Event
Nutrition and Health
16
th
International Conference on
26
th
International Conference on
Diabetes and Endocrinology
&
Journal of Insights in Nutrition and Metabolism | Volume 2
David I Gustafson
Independent Scientist, USA
Food system innovations for sustainable nutrition
A
new paradigm – “sustainable nutrition” – has emerged
where distinct streams of scientific discourse are beginning
to overlap: in global change, environmental science, agriculture,
food security, nutrition, sustainable development, and public
health. A broadening of perspective has accompanied this new
way of thinking, which holistically considers overall food system
performance, as measured by economic, environmental,
societal, nutrition, and health outcomes. This systems approach
includes analysis of entire food supply chains: beginning with
the production of essential agricultural inputs, animal and
crop farm operations, fisheries and aquaculture, processing,
storage, distribution, preparation, consumption, and ending
with waste disposal. Four key actions are needed to achieve
sustainable nutrition: (1) carefully define terminology and
agree upon quantifiable measures, metrics, and methods of
assessing its status; (2) bridge the gap between the ability to
characterize national-scale food system performance and
the diet and health of individuals, by gender, age, and socio-
economic status; (3) better coordinate and resource the
efforts now underway at local and regional levels to enhance
sustainable nutrition; and (4) facilitate consensus-building
across the full spectrum of food system stakeholders on the
trans-sectoral, ethically-based innovations that are needed
across entire food supply chains in order to attain sustainable
nutrition. With regard to the first of these points, a set of seven
comprehensive national food system performance metrics
(food nutrient adequacy, ecosystem stability, food affordability
and availability, sociocultural wellbeing, food safety, resilience,
and waste & loss reduction) has recently been developed and
applied globally. These metrics can be used to monitor progress
within individual countries, as innovations are pursued that
are intended to enhance sustainable nutrition, such as: boost
fruit & vegetable consumption in a sustainable manner; invest
in novel food production technologies; and explore the use of
smart-phone App’s to help optimize diets for both nutrition and
sustainability outcomes.
Speaker Biography
David I Gustafson is an independent scientist who uses modeling to help food systems
meet human nutrition needs in more sustainable ways. His academic training was in
chemical engineering (Stanford, B.S., 1980; University of Washington, Ph.D., 1983).
He worked 30 years in private industry (Shell, Rhône-Poulenc, Monsanto), and then
served at the ILSI Research Foundation as Director of the Center for Integrated
Modeling of Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition Security (CIMSANS) through 2016.
His early career focused on predicting agricultural impacts on water quality. He
subsequently developed new modeling approaches to pollen-mediated gene flow
and the population genetics of insect and weed resistance. Beginning in 2007, Dave
began leading efforts to understand climate adaptation and mitigation imperatives
in the global agri-food system. He has served on various national and international
teams looking at this issue, including the Executive Secretariat of the US Government’s
National Climate Assessment Development & Advisory Committee (2011-2014).
e:
dgustafson@ILSI.org