Special Issue "Diet, Human Health and Wellbeing in Traditional Food Systems"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Health and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Libby Swanepoel
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Health and Sport Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast, Locked Bag 4, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4558, Australia
Interests: food security; community capacity building; gender equity; sustainable and resilient food systems for healthy diets; food environments
Ms. Jessica E. Raneri
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Advisor to both the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research and the Agricultural Development and Food Security Section, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2617 Canberra, Australia
2. Department of Food Technology, Safety and Health, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Interests: participatory action research, whole-of-diet approaches, evidence-based policy and effective communication, global public health and development

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Traditional food systems identifies food from the local natural environment that are culturally acceptable. Nutrition transition, resulting from globalisation, economic development and modernised food governance systems, impacting food security, food sovereignty and sustainable development. Traditional food systems of indigenous peoples and those from Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share similar environmental, socioeconomic and nutritional vulnerabilities and are recognised as a special case for sustainable development. Traditional food systems have undergone profound transitions in recent decades that have led to deteriorations in diet quality, nutrition, health and socio-cultural traditions. Food systems have seen a shift away from traditional, local food towards an increasing reliance on imported and ultraprocessed foods that contribute to diet-related noncommunicable diseases. Complex combinations of personal, social, economic and environmental factors influence food production, consumption and subsequent human health and wellbeing outcomes in SIDS.

Indigenous peoples and small island states are subjected to global challenges resulting from climate change, land-use change, pandemics and political shifts, all which impact nutrition transitions and eating behaviours. Improved health and wellbeing rely upon strengthening enabling environments and improving the sustainability and resilience of traditional food systems to empower people and communities. In this Special Issue, we additionally hope to capture research addressing equity, food traditions and food sovereignty, and the influence these have on human health and wellbeing in SIDS.

This Special Issue aims to produce a collective picture of the drivers and impact of eating behaviours on human health and wellbeing of Indigenous peoples and those from SIDS. This Special Issue will include research across multiple levels, including consumer and nutrition outcomes, health implications, food and nutrition security, food sovereignty, and agricultural and food producer livelihoods. Additionally, we want to identify areas of priority for research and interventions.

Dr. Libby Swanepoel
Ms. Jessica E. Raneri
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 papers will be 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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 1900 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.

Keywords

  • food systems
  • food sovereignty
  • nutrition transitions
  • sustainable consumption
  • Pacific Islands
  • Caribbean region
  • public health
  • noncommunicable disease
  • food environments

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Market Foods, Own Production, and the Social Economy: How Food Acquisition Sources Influence Nutrient Intake among Ecuadorian Farmers and the Role of Agroecology in Supporting Healthy Diets
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4410; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084410 - 15 Apr 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 498
Abstract
Rural Ecuadorians are experiencing a double burden of malnutrition, characterized by simultaneous nutrient inadequacies and excesses, alongside the social and environmental consequences of unsustainable agriculture. Agriculture can support farmer nutrition by providing income for market purchases and through the consumption of foods from [...] Read more.
Rural Ecuadorians are experiencing a double burden of malnutrition, characterized by simultaneous nutrient inadequacies and excesses, alongside the social and environmental consequences of unsustainable agriculture. Agriculture can support farmer nutrition by providing income for market purchases and through the consumption of foods from own production. However, the nutritional contributions of these food acquisition strategies vary by context. We surveyed smallholder women farmers (n = 90) in Imbabura province to assess the dietary contributions of foods obtained through market purchase, own production, and social economy among farmers participating in agroecology—a sustainable farming movement—and neighboring reference farmers. We found that foods from farmers’ own production and the social economy were relatively nutrient-rich, while market foods were calorie-rich. Consumption of foods from own production was associated with better nutrient adequacy and moderation, whereas market food consumption was associated with a worse performance on both. Food acquisition patterns differed between farmer groups: agroecological farmers obtained 44%, 32%, and 23% of their calories from conventional markets, own production, and the social economy, respectively, while reference neighbors obtained 69%, 17%, and 13%, respectively. Our findings suggest that, in this region, farmer nutrition is better supported through the consumption of their own production than through market purchases, and sustainable farming initiatives such as agroecology may be leveraged for healthy diets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diet, Human Health and Wellbeing in Traditional Food Systems)
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