Topic: Global Sustainable Dietary Transition: Advances and Challenges

Dear colleagues,

The agri-food system remains a dominant catalyst for global environmental threats, ranging from climate change to biodiversity loss, as well as water and air contamination. The transition to sustainable diets is increasingly recognized as being crucial not only for our own health but also for the long-term sustainability of our planet. Sustainable diets, characterized by high consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes, and low intake of red and processed meats, have demonstrated associations with lower risks of major chronic diseases. Additionally, they offer substantial environmental benefits, including reduced global carbon, land, and nitrogen footprints.

However, despite the evident environmental advantages of sustainable diets, their widespread adoption remains a major challenge. Dietary preferences are influenced by a multitude of factors, including traditions, cultures, and social norms. This makes the shift towards sustainable diets difficult, especially in regions where high meat consumption is deeply entrenched in cultural and socioeconomic identities. Moreover, sustainable food options might be costlier and less accessible, further hindering the likelihood of adoption. In addition, awareness regarding the environmental impact of dietary choices remains low in many parts of the world. Addressing these challenges will require concerted efforts at regional and global levels, spanning multiple sectors from science and technology to policy and business, to make sustainable diets accessible, affordable, and appealing to the global population.

We are excited to announce a call for papers for an upcoming Special Issue focused on the "Global sustainable dietary transition: advances and challenges," aimed at exploring the multi-dimensional aspects of transitioning towards sustainable diets worldwide. This initiative invites contributions from researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and scholars, offering innovative insights, empirical research, and comprehensive s on how global societies can shift towards sustainable dietary patterns. Specifically, we call for papers with the following focuses:
• Environmental impacts of dietary choices: Analysis of how different dietary patterns affect environmental sustainability across different scales, especially with respect to less understood issues, such as plastic pollution, novel entities, and biodiversity loss.
• Socioeconomic drivers or barriers: Insights into the socioeconomic factors driving or hindering the adoption of sustainable diets, including affordability and cultural acceptability.
• Policy analyses: Evaluations of current agri-food systems—from agricultural practices, food processing, distribution, and dietary choices to waste management—how they might be affected by different policy schemes.
• Innovative Practices and Technologies: Exploration of innovative practices and technologies that can support the transition towards sustainable diets, including plant-based proteins, urban agriculture, and sustainable food packaging.
• Life cycle assessment of alternative proteins: Alternative proteins sourced from algae, microbes, insects, etc. are garnering increasing attention as potential solutions to replace the current animal-sourced proteins. Case studies examining their environmental and techno-economic aspects are particularly welcomed.
• Case studies of interventions: experimental studies on how dietary decision-making can be green-nudged.

30 Sep 2024