Report back: "Toward healthy, sustainable and equitable global food systems: Is the global food supply aligned with healthy eating guidelines?"
December 9, 2020 by School of Cities Staff (Report back: "Toward healthy, sustainable and equitable global food systems: Is the global food supply aligned with healthy eating guidelines?" | School of Cities (utoronto.ca))
In this talk, Prof. Penny discussed global food supply and tracking its alignment with food-based dietary guidelines. The creation of food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) by national governments has been advocated by FAO/WHO since 1998 to support healthy diets and prevent non-communicable diseases at the population level. Prof. Penney noted that while there has been a call for food systems to support adherence to FBDGs at the population level, little is known about the alignment between existing food supplies and FBDGs. The talk dove into the question of whether the global food supply aligns with FBDGs, including historical trends of alignment and divergence, over the past 52 years. The research indicated that food supplies are not aligned with national and international FBDGs, and this misalignment has persisted across five decades with a few notable exceptions. This talk also demonstrated the utility of a measure of food supply alignment with guidelines, which could support the surveillance and evaluation of future policies to support the transition to healthy, sustainable food systems.
The Building Resilience Initiative will be hosting regular webinars to further explore resilient supply chains, Mondays 4 - 5 PM, register here.