Future Food Institute reveals nutrition inequality contributors in global study

27 Jul 2021 --- Global nutrition access is a function of acceptability (knowledge and acceptance of nutritious foods), affordability and availability. This is according to Nutrition Unpacked, a research venture from The Future Food Institute (FFI) and the Dole Sunshine Company.

The initiative used a combined academic and practical approach to investigate social nutrition, hidden hunger, the food generation gap and the ecosystem.

This research aims to be the first step toward the development of an open-source platform that maps out data and real-life experiences from around the world. Furthermore, the Nutrition for All strategy may be used in future research to bring in even more stakeholders and allow for cross-cultural experience exchange.

“We believe that good nutrition should be accessible to all regardless of their gender, race or socioeconomic status. Looking at the nutrition gaps through this research helps us uncover new insights and fundamental local nuances crucial to creating sustainable solutions together,” says Pier Luigi Sigismondi, president at Dole Sunshine Company.

“Closing the nutrition gap is not just about understanding different populations but also the food ecosystems and the processes that contribute to unequal distribution.”

Previous research and dinners
The first phase of the study involved a previous literature review and quantitative analysis of data banks from public research institutions.

The second step involved six FFI dinners in Brazil, India, Japan, Poland, the US and Zimbabwe. It was conducted over three months, and quantitative data was collected to uncover the root causes of global nutrition inequalities and gaps.FFI and the Dole Sunshine Company aim to tackle global food insecurity by revealing root causes of global nutrition inequalities.

The initiative’s goal was to have open discussions with stakeholders to discuss barriers, gaps and solutions to worldwide nutrition inequalities.

Conversions that discussed the impact that affordability, availability and education have on food access were held between educators, farmers, scientists, chefs, food technologists, policymakers, nutritionists and consumers.

Nutrition gap explained
The nutrition gap is an imbalance between the nutrients required for a balanced diet and the nutrients consumed, which can be caused by availability, pricing, access or food choices.

Access to nutrients is independent of calories consumed. For example, no location is exempt from obesity, despite 820 million people not having enough to eat. Malnutrition affects one in every three people worldwide, making it the world’s leading cause of disease.

Four areas of focus
The research identifies four areas of focus that the FFI and Dole used to develop a framework to better understand the perspectives that surround dietary inequalities. These areas were later validated by stakeholders at the dinners and focus on social nutrition, the food generation gap, hidden hunger and the ecosystem.

Firstly, social nutrition explores the relationship between eating habits and broader social patterns (such as gender, culture, religion, economics and politics) to better understand why consumers eat in a particular manner.

Secondly, the food generation gap looks into the values, interests, beliefs, behaviors, aspirations, and generational differences and viewpoints on topics including sustainability, taste, waste production, traditions and eating habits.

Thirdly, hidden hunger analyzes how food quality does not match up to nutrient requirements. The primary causes of hidden hunger include scarcity of natural resources and contamination, limited access to nutritious food, nutritional quality, food loss and lifestyle changes.Acceptability, affordability and availability form the equation needed for global access to nutrition.

Finally, the ecosystem explores redefining the food ecosystem while taking environmental sustainability, food value chains, communities and infrastructures into consideration.

“Achieving nutrition for all requires many of us working together to completely reshape our food ecosystem,” Sigismondi adds.

Global nutrition efforts in focus
Projects are set in motion to improve food availability and consumers’ diets. In this space, a “Food Waste Reduction Roadmap” project attempts to reduce food waste by half by 2025.

Meanwhile, Mondelēz International aims to create balanced and sustainable diets for all European consumers and a climate-neutral food chain in Europe by 2050.

To transform papaya waste and dairy into nutritious and cheap snacks, Arla Foods Ingredients partnered with the public and private sectors in Denmark and Ethiopia.

By Nicole Kerr