Evaluating Food Procurement against the EAT- Lancet Planetary Health Diet in a Sample of U.S. Universities

Jaclyn Bertoldo (), Abby Fammartino, Sophie Egan, Roni A. Neff, Rebecca Grekin and Julia A. Wolfson
Additional contact information
Jaclyn Bertoldo: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Abby Fammartino: Strategic Initiatives Group, Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park, NY 12538, USA
Sophie Egan: R&DE Stanford Food Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Roni A. Neff: Department of Environmental Health and Engineering, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Rebecca Grekin: Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
Julia A. Wolfson: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Aligning institutional food procurement with planetary health targets offers opportunities to improve nutrition and reduce food-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study compared foods procured by 19 university dining programs in the U.S. in 2022 with the EAT- Lancet planetary health diet. Each university’s procurement was then modeled to align with the EAT- Lancet planetary health diet, and changes to Healthy Eating Index (HEI) scores and GHG emissions were evaluated. For a subset of universities that provided cost data, changes in annual total food costs were also estimated. Universities in this study exceeded EAT- Lancet planetary health targets for beef ( x - = 657% of target), pork ( x - = 587%), poultry ( x - = 379%), and eggs ( x - = 293%). All universities failed to achieve planetary health targets for legumes and nuts ( x - = 39% of the target) and vegetables ( x - = 68%). Aligning food procurement with the planetary health diet would result in an estimated average 46.1% reduction in GHG emissions and a 19.7 point increase in HEI scores. Universities that provided cost data saw an average 9.7% reduction in food costs in the EAT- Lancet -aligned scenario. The procurement metrics assessed in this study can help university dining programs and other institutional food service organizations set goals and monitor progress toward planetary health targets.

Keywords: nutrition; healthy diets; food systems; food procurement; planetary health; climate change; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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