Community nutrition and sustainability: Concept and evidence

Abstract

In community nutrition, sustainability refers to the ability of the program or intervention to continue over time in line with local and global economic, human and environmental resources.We can differentiate the sustainability into two major conceptual areas: The sustainability of community nutrition programs, understood as autonomy and self-financing or external independence, and the sustainability of agricultural, livestock and nutritional policies with respect to the environment.Food production exerst distinct effects on the geophysical environment, such as the degradation of species, the emission of toxins, air pollution and water consumption. The changes in diet related to reducing animal products and increasing vegetable comsumption not only produce benefits for human health and on the overall utilization of land, but can also play a decisive role in the policies of climate change mitigation. The Mediterranean, being understood not only as a concrete set of foods but also as a cultural incorporating the ways foods are produced and processed, is an example of sustainability, in wich biodiversity is also key.Sustainability should be considered as a fundamental element when planning and defining community nutrition interventions and should constitute a key issue in the agenda for climate change mitigation. (C) 2009 SENC. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.