Member Matters
Sustainable diets: Empowering consumers in the face of regulatory tardiness
8 July 2024
In attempting to address the global food system to reduce emissions, Australian researchers are calling on the public health community to advocate for government action and to empower consumers to call for change.
According to a recent commentary (1), a dietary transition comprising a higher proportion of plant-based foods to meat and dairy products is encouraged to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. The National Health and Climate Strategy (2) acknowledges a need for this change involving a major shift in food production and population consumption patterns. A food system transformation would require supply chain solutions favouring sustainable activities and approaches that help consumers access information to make sustainable and healthy food choices. The authors suggest that the reviews of the 2013 Australian Dietary Guidelines, and FSANZ Act 1991 are opportunities to see planetary health priorities being embedded.
While these reviews will take time, the authors propose that consumer-driven initiatives can result in more immediate action to improve the food system’s sustainability. One solution is the use of sustainability product labelling. Evidence-based sustainability labelling systems for food products are beginning to emerge globally such as the Eco-Score in France and the ecoSwitch (3) in Australia – both are based on lifecycle assessment data. Eco labeling is not without challenges as the ACCC (4) recently found the food sector to be among those with the highest prevalence of ‘green-washing’ labels. According to the researchers, industry involvement in the development of such labelling will “delay and weaken the process” and therefore the requirements must be mandated to ensure industry compliance.
The researchers acknowledge that labelling is one lever among many others that are required to redirect agricultural and manufacturing sectors to make structural changes to improve the food supply chain and in turn the Australian and global food systems.
References
- Pettigrew S, Taylor F, Hunniset C, Hadjikakou M. Sustainable diets: Empowering consumers in the face of regulatory tardiness. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health. 2024: 48 (3) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anzjph.2024.100151
- National Health and Climate Strategy | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
- Power in your hands: FoodSwitch and ecoSwitch https://www.georgeinstitute.org/projects/foodswitch
- Greenwashing by businesses in Australia (apo.org.au)
