Diet affordability: a key dimension in the assessment of sustainable food systems and healthy diets

dc.citation.volume11
dc.contributor.authorChungchunlam SMS
dc.contributor.authorMoughan PJ
dc.contributor.editorRaubenheimer D
dc.date.accessioned2024-10-24T00:27:17Z
dc.date.available2024-10-24T00:27:17Z
dc.date.issued2024-08-12
dc.description.abstractA promulgated global shift toward a plant-based diet is largely in response to a perceived negative environmental impact of animal food production, but the nutritional adequacy and economic implications of plant-sourced sustainable healthy dietary patterns need to be considered. This paper reviews recent modeling studies using Linear Programming to determine the respective roles of animal- and plant-sourced foods in developing a least-cost diet in the United States and New Zealand. In both economies, least-cost diets were found to include animal-based foods, such as milk, eggs, fish, and seafood, to meet the energy and nutrient requirements of healthy adults at the lowest retail cost. To model a solely plant-based least-cost diet, the prevailing costs of all animal-sourced foods had to be increased by 1.1 to 11.5 times their original retail prices. This led to the inclusion of fortified plant-based foods, such as fortified soymilk, and a plant-based diet that was considerably (34–45%) more costly. The first-limiting essential nutrients were mostly the vitamins and minerals, with special focus on pantothenic acid, zinc, and vitamin B-12, when transitioning from an animal- and plant-containing least-cost diet to a plant-only based least-cost diet. Modeled least-cost diets based on contemporary food costs include animal-sourced foods, at least for developed high-income US and NZ food economies, and potentially for developing low- and middle-income countries, such as Indonesia. Modeling of least-cost diets that consist exclusively of plant-based foods is feasible, but at a higher daily diet cost, and these diets are often close to limiting for several key nutrients. Diet affordability, as a key dimension of sustainable healthy diets, and the respective economic roles of animal- and plant-sourced foods need to be considered.
dc.description.confidentialfalse
dc.identifier.citationChungchunlam SMS, Moughan PJ. (2024). Diet affordability: a key dimension in the assessment of sustainable food systems and healthy diets. Frontiers in Nutrition. 11.
dc.identifier.doi10.3389/fnut.2024.1399019
dc.identifier.eissn2296-861X
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.number1399019.
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/71842
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherFrontiers Media S.A.
dc.publisher.urihttps://www.frontiersin.org/journals/nutrition/articles/10.3389/fnut.2024.1399019/full
dc.relation.isPartOfFrontiers in Nutrition
dc.rights(c) 2024 The Author/s
dc.rightsCC BY 4.0
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectdiet cost
dc.subjectdiet optimization model
dc.subjectlinear programming (LP)
dc.subjectnutrient adequacy
dc.subjectadult
dc.subjectprotein
dc.subjectanimal-source foods (ASF)
dc.subjectplant-based food (PBF)
dc.titleDiet affordability: a key dimension in the assessment of sustainable food systems and healthy diets
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id491457
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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