Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Work needs to be done to establish more precisely what 'sustainable food' rep-
resents. While life cycle assessment and other tehnical measures will be needed to
evaluate energy, carbon and water footprints and other environmental impacts, so-
cial, economic and ethical criteria will also be required in calculating appropriate
trade-offs (Edwards-Jones
et al.
, 2008; van Hauwermeiren
et al.
, 2007). Ultimately,
the purpose is to beter demonstrate the link between diet and environmental impact
(Frey and Barret, 2007) and social impact, thereby encouraging greater personal re-
sponsibility and behavioural hange (Jakson
et al.
, 2008) in the development of more
sustainable food supply hains.
Consumption patterns
Increased purhasing power, shiting food preferences, access to global markets and
growing populations have led to signiicant shits in consumption paterns in recent
years that are anticipated to continue into forthcoming decades. Daily per capita cal-
orie consumption has increased from 2280kcal in the 1960s to 2800kcal shortly after
the turn of the century. As income levels rise in developing countries, so it is ex-
pected that demand for meat will tend towards the per capita consumption rates of
115kg per year in the USA and 80kg per year in the UK (Royal Society, 2009). In
China alone, meat consumption has more than doubled in the past 20 years, and is
projected to double again by 2030 (Sherr and Sthapit, 2009). As a consequence of
increasing demand, meat production is expected to grow from 229m tonnes in 1990
to 465m tonnes by 2050, and milk to grow from 580m to 1043m tonnes (Steinfeld
et-
al.
, 2006). Shiting consumption paterns combined with population growth have led
to estimates that food production will be required to dramatically increase to meet
growing consumption needs in the future (Lobley and Winter, 2010). The emergent
pattern of dietary shifts is unlikely to provide the same health benefits as well-bal-
anced diets rih in grains and other vegetable products. Increased meat and dairy
consumption (particularly red meat), combined with increased intake of high sug-
ar and high fat foods haracteristic of modern, highly processed food products, are
likely to lead to nutritional deficiencies as well as a growing number of cases of
obesity and its associated illnesses, suh as Type II diabetes and hronic heart condi-
tions. This will increase demand for healthcare and require increased spending (Roy-
al Society, 2009).
