Sustainable Nutrition: Bridging Food Systems, Climate Change, and Human Health

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable food systems are crucial for both human health and climate change mitigation. Climate change impacts food security, diet quality, and nutrition outcomes, while our dietary patterns also affect climate change [1]. Sustainable diets, characterised by high plant-based and reduced animal-sourced foods, offer potential health benefits and environmental advantages [2]. These diets can lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions and potential reductions in diet-related non-communicable diseases. Promoting sustainable food systems requires addressing challenges such as population growth, urbanisation, and the need for climate-friendly agriculture, place-based food procurement, and shorter supply chains [1,3].

Integrating food consumption and nutrition considerations into climate adaptation and mitigation planning is essential for developing sustainable food systems that benefit both human health and the planet [4,5]. Urgent action is needed to measure and address the complex interactions between food systems, climate change, and human health [1].

This Special Issue aims to further advance scientific and professional knowledge in the field of sustainable nutrition. We have a particular interest in studies related to the following: agroecology, food security, hunger, malnutrition, food systems, horticulture, biodiversity, non-conventional edible plants, underutilised crops, food waste, the circular economy, shorter supply chains, food procurements, etc.

This Special Issue will accept manuscripts on sustainable nutrition practice, policy, and research, exploring a wide range of topics and disciplines, such as epidemiology, public health, nutrition, agroecology, food science, behavioural sciences, social sciences, demography, economic evaluation, policy analysis, advocacy, and professional development. It will include the following types of articles:

• Primary research (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies);
• Systematic, mapping, scoping, and narrative reviews;
• Methodological papers;
• Case studies;
• Commentaries and position papers;
• Brief reports.

References

1. Owino, V.; Kumwenda, C.; Ekesa, B.; Parker, M.E.; Ewoldt, L.; Roos, N.; Lee, W.T.; Tome, D. The impact of climate change on food systems, diet quality, nutrition, and health outcomes: A narrative review. Clim. 2022, 4, 941842. https://doi: 10.3389/fclim.2022.941842.
2. Jarmul, S.; Dangour, A.D.; Green, R.; Liew, Z.; Haines, A.; Scheelbeek, P.F. Climate change mitigation through dietary change: A systematic review of empirical and modelling studies on the environmental footprints and health effects of ‘sustainable diets’. Res. Lett. 2020, 15. https://doi:10.1088/1748-9326/abc2f7.
3. Lutz, M. Healthy sustainable food patterns and systems: A planetary urgency. Medwave 2021, 21, e8436. https://doi:10.5867/medwave.2021.07.8436.
4. Orkusz, A.; Bogueva, D. Children’s Diets and Planetary Health: A Study in Wroclaw, Poland, and Sydney, Australia. Foods 2024, 13, 3536. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13223536.
5. Willett, W.; Rockström, J.; Loken, B.; Springmann, M.; Lang, T.; Vermeulen, S.; Garnett, T.; Tilman, D.; DeClerck, F.; Wood, A.; et al. Food in the Anthropocene: The EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet 2019, 393, 447–492.

Prof. Dr. Amanda Rodrigues Amorim Adegboye
Dr. Maria Beatriz Trindade De Castro
Dr. Marija Knez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.