The IUNS Task Force on Sustainable Diets has published a review on the Journal of Nutritional Science.
This review explores what makes a diet truly “sustainable” and why this idea is more complex than simply choosing foods with a low environmental impact. The authors show that sustainable diets sit at the intersection of health, the environment, culture, and affordability. They describe how thinking in this area has expanded over time, from focusing mainly on environmental impact, to recognising that diets must also be nutritious, culturally meaningful, and realistic for people to follow.
The review highlights new approaches shaping global discussions, such as the EAT–Lancet Planetary Health Diet and the SHARP model. It also explains why applying these ideas is not always straightforward, especially in countries where food choices are strongly influenced by limited resources or local food availability. Examples from different regions, including the Mediterranean and African Indigenous food traditions, show how diverse communities have their own sustainable eating patterns rooted in local culture and ecology.
Overall, the authors argue that there is no single sustainable diet that works everywhere. Instead, many possible pathways exist, each shaped by local contexts. They emphasise the need for fair policies, supportive food systems, better ways to measure sustainability, and approaches that involve communities directly. Sustainable diets, they suggest, can help drive progress toward global health and environmental goals.
The full review online for free can be accessed here.
Source: https://iuns.org/2025/12/sustainable-di ... -where-to/
