Socioeconomic context and food system goals impact optimal supplies of animal-sourced foods

What is it about?

Reduced consumption of animal sourced foods in some regions of the world has been recommended to support health and environmental goals. This work explored how the socioeconomic context unique to individual countries, as well as the goals of the food system (optimizing food security, greenhouse gas emissions, diet affordability, or these goals jointly), affected estimates of the optimal inclusion of animal sourced foods in the food system. The analysis showed considerably country-to-country variability in optimal animal sourced food inclusion, highlighting the importance of considering incomes, food supplies, and political stability. Estimates of optimal animal sourced food inclusion levels also differed with food system goal, with higher inclusion identified as optimal in scenarios with food security and dietary affordability prioritized over greenhouse gas emissions. Estimated optimal supplies of animal sourced food supported increased supplies in many developing regions, and decreases in some developed regions. The empirical analysis also suggested the need for considering shifts in animal sourced food composition, with estimated optimal scenarios consistently favoring dairy and egg products over meat. Collectively, median inclusion of animal sourced food to support food security, agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, or affordability objectives individually or jointly was 18.2% ± 12.1%, 11.9% ± 6.8%, 17.6% ± 8.5% or 15.1% ± 7.2%. Although animal sourced foods are environmentally intensive, moderate supplies of these products can contribute to multiple food system goals simultaneously.

Featured Image

Photo by EqualStock on Unsplash

Photo by EqualStock on Unsplash