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Human health and sustainability
QUESTION
What is a Food System and How Does It Operate?
Subject | Nursing | Pages | 5 | Style | APA |
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Answer
Introduction
Human health and sustainability of the environment is a crucial consideration of a healthy and sustainable food system. The food production process should not contribute to greenhouse gases that affect the environment negatively. The environment and food production should have a bidirectional relationship, where each benefits from the other. For example, the intake of red meat can influence the environment negatively depending on demand. High demand for beef increases demands resulting in increased production. The process releases methane into the environment leading to the greenhouse effect.
What is a Food System and How Does It Operate?
A food system is a food production system, processing, retailing, transportation, consumption, disposal, and reuse. The system affects the type of foods available for consumption, the natural environment, built environments, social and cultural, lives, and economic incomes. The food system operates through a series of connected channels (Lindgren, Harris, Dangour, Gasparatos, Hiramatsu, Javadi & Haines, 2018). The growth in livestock increases the greenhouse effect. The climate change increases drought frequency, the drought results to crop failure, which leads to high prices of foods. The main actors in the food system include farmers, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers, government agencies, among others.
What is a Healthy and Sustainable Food System (Including The 4 Pillars)?
A healthy and sustainable food system is a waste less system that reduces people ultra-processed and discretionary food intake. Nonetheless, it reduces people animal-based food intake system and replaces it with plant-based diets. Primarily, the purpose of the system is to enable population to eat a sustainable diet.
Why is Decreasing Red Meat Intake to Within the Recommendations (Part of Pillar 2) Important To Human Health and The Environment?
The reduced intake of red meat within the recommended level is essential to human health since it reduces the intake of saturated fats. Consumption of saturated fats in large quantities has been linked to chronic diseases such as heart conditions and increased cholesterol content in the body. Primarily, the high intake of cholesterol exposes population to an increased risk of cholesterol cancer. Other chronic conditions associated to the same are stroke, mortality, and cardiovascular diseases.
Concerning the environment, the reduction in consumption of beef reduces the emission of greenhouse gases. An increase in demand for red meat leads to increased production of cattle. Beef cattle farming significantly contribute to green house gas emissions. Methane, one of the major gases produced while rearing cattle, is among the major contributors to greenhouse gases.
What is The Bidirectional Relationship between the Food System and Environmental Sustainability? Explain this Within the Context Of Decreasing Red Meat Intake to Within Recommendations.
Bidirectional relationship is a two-way relationship between food system and the environment. The environment ensures availability and quality of food. The food is healthy when the resources are plenty. On the other hand, when the resources are scarce, it becomes hard to do agriculture and produce food. The production of food can cause greenhouse gas emissions (Willett, Rockström, Loken, Springmann, Lang, Vermeulen & Murray, 2019). The gases result to increased temperature leading to drought, which affects the production of food. When the consumption of red meat goes down, the demand also goes down, resulting to reduced cattle keeping activities. Cattle keeping increase the amount of methane in the atmosphere. Methane is one of the deadliest gases that significantly contribute to greenhouse effect. High production of beef increases its consumption resulting to related diseases such as colorectal cancer and stroke.
What Initiatives (E.G. Policies/ Programs) Exist to Address the Problems Associated with Excess Red Meat Intake?
The EAT-Lancet commission conducted a research and released a report on the Healthy Diet from Sustainable Food Systems to address the need to sustain the increasing population. The report recommended change to diet and food wastage. The facts of the report have significant implications in the Australian red meat consumption (Willett, Rockström, Loken, Springmann, Lang, Vermeulen & Murray, 2019). The report endorsed an increased in consumption of foods such as vegetables, fruits, and wholegrain to replace red meat. The universal adoption of the report’s guidelines would reduce the global consumption of red meat by 70% in the year 20150. Nonetheless, organizations have advocated advocacies concerning the reduction of beef consumption for ethical reasons and the well-being of both the animals and the environment.
What Is An Example Of An Intervention, Either Overseas Or In Australia, that Has Tried To Improve Health OR Environmental Sustainability By Decreasing Red Meat Consumption And Increasing Plant-Based Food Intake At The Population Level?
According to a randomized study, “Addressing the Impacts of Red Meat Consumption,” red meat has had severe effect to human health and the environment, and yet less of the subject has constituted a policy issue or formed a significant subject of study in Canada or the world (Bless, 2019). The study was conducted through a randomized survey through a series of questions on relevant players in the beef industry, and the government agriculture and environmental departments. The study sought to identify the barriers to policy action intended to reduce the impacts of consumption of red meat and the opinions of key stakeholders regarding the policies and barriers (Bless, 2019). The research has been influential since it has acted as a significant point of reference for the government policymakers concerning the need for policies to reduce the consumption of red meat to improve the environment and human health.
Conclusion
The food system entails the production process through to the consumption, disposal, and reuse. It affects food available for consumption, real and built environment. The increase in demand for certain products in the market increases their production, which is likely to increase greenhouse gasses. The food system should be healthy and sustainable. That is, there should be reduction in food wastage, less dependence of animal-based food and energy intake. Nonetheless, it involves consumption of less process foods. Reduced intake of red meat is importance to both human population and the environment. Thus, food production should have a bidirectional relationship with the environment. Various studies and policy recommendations have been made to enhance environmental protection and sustain human health through reduced consumption of red meat, and increased consumption of vegetables and fruits.
References
Bless, A. (2019). Addressing the Impacts of Red Meat Consumption: Lessons from Australia’s Tobacco Control Regime. Lindgren, E., Harris, F., Dangour, A. D., Gasparatos, A., Hiramatsu, M., Javadi, F., … & Haines, A. (2018). Sustainable food systems—a health perspective. Sustainability science, 13(6), 1505-1517. Willett, W., Rockström, J., Loken, B., Springmann, M., Lang, T., Vermeulen, S., … & Murray, C. J. (2019). Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The Lancet, 393(10170), 447-492.
Appendix
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