Seven Food System Metrics of Sustainable Nutrition Security

David Gustafson, Alona Gutman, Whitney Leet, Adam Drewnowski, Jessica Fanzo and John Ingram
Additional contact information
David Gustafson: ILSI Research Foundation, Center for Integrated Modeling of Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition Security (CIMSANS), 1156 15th St NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005, USA
Alona Gutman: ILSI Research Foundation, Center for Integrated Modeling of Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition Security (CIMSANS), 1156 15th St NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005, USA
Whitney Leet: ILSI Research Foundation, Center for Integrated Modeling of Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition Security (CIMSANS), 1156 15th St NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20005, USA
Adam Drewnowski: Center for Public Health Nutrition, University of Washington, Box 353410, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Jessica Fanzo: School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, 1740 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA
John Ingram: Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Sustainability considerations have been absent from most food security assessments conducted to date, despite the tremendous economic, environmental, and social implications of meeting accelerating food demand in the face of water shortages and climate change. In addition, previous food security work has generally focused only on achieving adequate calories, rather than addressing dietary diversity and micronutrient adequacy, both of which are critical to maintaining a healthy overall nutritional status. In response to the limitations of previous assessments, a new methodology is proposed here based on the concept of “sustainable nutrition security” (SNS). This novel assessment methodology is intended to remedy both kinds of deficiencies in the previous work by defining seven metrics, each based on a combination of multiple indicators, for use in characterizing sustainable nutrition outcomes of food systems: (1) food nutrient adequacy; (2) ecosystem stability; (3) food affordability and availability; (4) sociocultural wellbeing; (5) food safety; (6) resilience; and (7) waste and loss reduction. Each of the metrics comprises multiple indicators that are combined to derive an overall score (0–100). A novel SNS assessment methodology based on these metrics can be deployed by decision-makers and investors to set meaningful goals, track progress, and evaluate the potential impact of food system interventions intended to improve sustainability and human nutrition outcomes.

Keywords: sustainability; nutrition security; food security; climate change; resilience; food safety; waste and loss; crop modeling; economic modeling; integrated modeling; open data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

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