Health Gains versus Climate Strains of Animal Sourced Foods
Netherlands Working Group on International Nutrition (NWGN) at the World Food Day 2024
At this year’s World Food Day celebration, hosted by Netherlands Food Partnership’s (NFP), the NWGN hosted a lively session on the links between nutrition, climate and biodiversity.
The discussion focused on animal sourced foods (ASF) production and consumption, drawing insights from the position paper “Animal-sourced foods in low- and middle-
income countries: Navigating the trade-offs between healthy diets and climate” in preparation by NWGN and Clim-Eat with support from NFP. Hereafter the session dived into sustainability through discussing “Sustainable Healthy Diets for Biodiversity” work that WCDI and NFP recently embarked on. Highlights of these discussions included how sustainable healthydiets positively interact with climate change and biodiversity loss; the substantial negative environmental impact of current agriculture systems and especially of large-scale livestock production; and, how providing access to low-cost ASF with low environmental footprint greatly benefits the quality of diets of low-income groups, especially in LMICs.
Invited experts from LVVN, MoFA, RVO and SNV brought positive reflections, connecting the presentations and the position paper to their organization’s goals and activities: RVO mentioned their increased attention for integrated farming and nutrition sensitive agriculture, while MoFA emphasized the challenge that in many LMICs people do not yet meet their daily requirements for ASF. They reiterated the importance of linking nutrition and climate especially in the context of a growing global population – noting one health and soil health as important aspects to consider when navigating these trade-offs. LVVN referenced the Dutch 2020 protein strategy’s goal to reverse the 60% : 40% ratio of animal to plant based protein while they acknowledged that this may not be applicable to LMICs. SNV’s current agricultural strategy pursues more sustainable agriculture, increased access to ASF for poor and vulnerable groups through marketing and retail based on FBDGs in projects across Kenya and Ethiopia.
Lively discussions in and out of the historic post wagon engaged participants on key aspects around consumption and sustainable production of ASF, including equity for
access and the importance of traditional production methods and indigenous knowledge.
The closing remarks highlighted the role of moderate ASF consumption in LMICs and need for sustainable production. This balanced approach is crucial for improving nutrition and preserving biodiversity, supporting both plant and animal protein sources. By promoting sustainable diets, we can enhance human health while protecting the environment.
We were very pleased to see that the climate strains and protein transition from animal to plant based sources for the Dutch context were also considered in the lovely True Priced Lunch served. With environmental costs factored in, options excluded ham salad, as its environmental impact was more than twice that of vegan hummus and vegetarian egg salad, embodying the session’s message in action.
The Position paper on the role of ASF in Sustainable Healthy Diets in LMICs can be found in our website. The slides of the NWGN and WUR session are available here: WFD_ASF_slides.16.10.24.
Blog Authors:
NWGN co-chairs – Arine Valstar & Diane Bosch
NWGN secretariat – Beatriz Neves