As I proposed in my Presidential Address at last month’s Annual Meeting, SNEB is well-positioned to lead integration of human and planetary health in our nutrition education research, practice and advocacy. In that light, I found the following piece in Food Navigator about a food-related carbon-footprint app interesting and important to critique. Clearly, when we make food choices, it is important to consider overall healthfulness, nutrient content as well as the environmental impacts stemming from production, transportation, processing and packaging.
So, I strongly support the idea of arming the public with information about how to make better choices. However, such approaches to food and nutrition education (since that’s what this is) need to be evaluated. And who better to do that than members of our Society? Also, consuming better is a critically important part of the solution and the tree-planting program is terrific. But not consuming must be a viable option as well. Especially, for example, when it comes to beverages, educating about and advocating for water as the hydration vehicle of choice – from safe and secure municipal sources – is, in my view, the more “responsible brand” that has “an edge over less sustainable competitors”.
21-Aug-2019 By Flora Southey
UK start-up Almond has developed an app that rewards shoppers for buying responsible brands, while helping to reduce and offset CO₂e emissions. “In a nutshell, we help consumers reduce their negative impact,” CEO Oliver Bolton tells FoodNavigator.
