CHAPTER TWO

Diets and Nutrition

The Potential of a Food Systems Approach

Marie T. Ruel and Inge D. Brouwer

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Anchoring sustainable healthy diets as a key outcome of food systems transformation helps prioritize diets as a critical way to tackle all forms of malnutrition

OVERVIEW

Priorities in nutrition research and practice have evolved over many years as new evidence has become available on preventing and addressing different forms of malnutrition.
Experiences with nutrition-sensitive agriculture highlight the importance of holistic, multisectoral frameworks for addressing malnutrition.
Adopting the “food systems for sustainable healthy diets” framework helps position consumers and their food environments in the global food systems transformation agenda.
Anchoring sustainable healthy diets as one of the key outcomes of food systems transformation helps prioritize diets as a critical entry point to tackle all forms of malnutrition.
The focus on diets, rather than on nutrition and health outcomes, helps set feasible goals for food systems transformation.

A number of investments are needed to make food systems work for diets and nutrition:

For sustainable healthy diets to translate into optimal nutrition and health, food systems will need to coordinate with other systems that address the underlying determinants of malnutrition — such as health, social protection, education, and women’s empowerment — and will require greater coordination among food systems actors.
Methods, tools, and indicators for measuring consumer behavior and food environments are urgently needed to evaluate and monitor food system solutions for sustainable healthy diets.
For policymakers, using the food systems paradigm creates new opportunities to revamp national food-based dietary guidelines to incorporate health and environmental considerations. Using this paradigm also provides an opportunity to address all forms of malnutrition and incorporate multi-duty actions in national nutrition plans and other relevant sectoral strategies.

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