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Systemic transformation to a sustainable diet with nutritional adequacy and reduced diet related greenhouse emissions
CLINICAL NUTRITION
Segment Family Class
42
23
0
SDG Alignment
9. Build Resilient Infrastructure, Promote Inclusive and Sustainable Industrialization and Foster Innovation
SDG Target
9.4
Target Description
By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities
Level of Effort
Level of Effort Scale
3
1 -Quick Wins: solution involves adding criteria for the good or service being purchased (ex: certifications), minimal internal process changes.
2 -Long Term Adoption: solution requires some changes to internal processes and/or more capital investment (ex: digital transformation to reduce paper use).
3 – Disruptive Opportunities: requires significant investment and changes to internal processes (ex: retrofitting building)
Category Assessment
Assessment
• Assess the dietary data of products for environmental impact in addition to their nutritional value provided on the current products used.
• Investigate the studies done on the potential of alternative diets to reduce the environmental impact of food consumption by comparing the environmental impact of observed diets against hypothetical dietary scenarios (e.g., vegetarian, vegan, or flexitarian) which are considered more healthful and regionally acceptable, such as the Mediterranean and New Nordic diet.
• Compare the results to identify the sustainability factor of each of the products used in your preparations.
• Research and refer to studies done in this area and prepare a record of the conclusions or results published.
• Look for tools for further exploring sustainable diets are standardized surveys and individual diet modelling.
Opportunity Identification
Business:
Scope to market brand value as providing sustainable diets. The use of more sustainable and eco-friendly nutrition practices promotes the company image.
Sustainability:
A meat-based food system requires more energy, land, and water resources than the lactoovovegetarian (plant-based) diet. A shift will result in reduced land, water and energy resource consumptions.
Strategy Build & Execution
• Based on the assessment, perform waste, energy, and water audits along with pre and post-consumer waste audits to establish a baseline.
• Bring awareness of the impact of food plays on the environment within your organization. This can be achieved by assembling a team that promotes a culture of sustainable-thinking amongst employees educating on diets and nutrition.
• Develop a new menu, including in-house recipes to cater to this demand, align your organization on why such changes are needed, and help motivate this change in food culture.
• Invest in management systems to establish and monitor the minimization of the food and packaging waste and nutrition offered in prepared dishes through creative planning, purchasing and portioning.
• Invest in resource-efficient equipment and ensure food safety protocols are followed and maintained.
• Conduct knowledge sessions with producers to understand our ecology better.
Supplier Negotiation & Contract
• Discuss with suppliers/manufacturers regarding the need for a shift to revolve food around its nutritional value and quality to meet standards.
• Reward contract(s) to suppliers that create a demand for sustainable diets and healthy food supply chains in their circle, i.e., fostering relationships with local producers and supporting farmers who contribute to biodiversity and sustainability efforts.
• Leverage this effort and initiative in exchange for discounted rates.
• Ask the supplier for visibility into nutritional value & quality reporting.
• Establish a tracking and reporting schedule for maintaining quality & assessing sustainability impact.
Supplier Performance & Management
• Perform regular quality checks on the sustainably procured food products and compare results and maintain a record.
• Evaluate suppliers' certifications attained for their product offerings are up to date.
• Assess the commercial and environmental impact of the adopted change from the intial audit and request feedback/reviews from stakeholders.
• Engage on social media to assess customers' feedback to improve current strategies.
• Monitor & track the annual CSR reports of your suppliers.
Resource Links
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