Agricultural biodiversity, social-ecological systems and sustainable diets

Traditional agricultural management of Kam Sweet Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in southeast Guizhou Province, China

BACKGROUND

The Dong people mainly live in Hunan, Guangxi and Guizhou provinces, China, with a long history of glutinous rice cultivation, among which Kam Sweet Rice (KSR) is a group of rice landraces that has been domesticated for thousands of years by the Dong people. The core distribution area of KSR is Liping, Congjiang and Rongjiang County of southeast, Guizhou Province. Paddy fields, forests, livestock and cottages have formed a special artificial wetland ecosystem in local area, and the Dong people have also formed a set of traditional farming systems of KSR for variety breeding, field management, and soil and water conservation. However, this traditional agricultural management has not been reported at multiple levels based on landraces, species and ecosystems.

METHODS

Fieldwork was conducted in ten villages in southeast Guizhou from 2019 to 2021. A total of 229 informants were interviewed from the villages. Semi-structured and key informant interviews were administered to collect ethnoecological data on the characteristics and traditional utilization of KSR, traditional farming systems and agricultural management of the Dong people.

RESULTS

(1): A total of 57 KSR landraces were recorded as used by the Dong people in southeast Guizhou. We analyzed the cultural importance index (CII) of all KSRs. KSR with high CII often has a pleasant taste, special biological characteristics of cold resistance, disease and insect resistance and high utilization in the traditional culture of Dong people. (2) There is a clear division of labor between men and women in the breeding, seed retention, field management and grain storage management of different landraces of KSR in Dong communities. In order to resist natural disasters and insect pests, the cultivation of KSR is usually managed by multi-variety mixed planting. These agricultural management modes are the result of Dong people's understanding and adaptation to the local natural geographical environment, as well as the experience and wisdom crystallization of Dong people's long-term practice. (3) The traditional farmland of Dong People is a typical artificial wetland ecosystem that is planted with mixed KSR landraces with rich traditional wisdom. In addition, the economic benefit of the rice-fish-duck symbiotic system was 3.07 times that of hybrid rice alone; therefore, the rice-fish-duck system not only has the function of maintaining soil, water and ecological balance but also improves the income of Dong people.

CONCLUSION

KSR is a special kind of rice that has been domesticated and cultivated by Dong people for thousands of years. Dong people have also formed traditional agriculture dominated by KSR cultivation. The traditional agricultural management of Dong people provides suitable habitats for flora and fauna with biodiversity protection, and convenient conditions for rational utilization and distribution of water resources were also provided. This traditional management mode is of great significance for environmental protection, climate change response, community resource management, sustainable utilization and agricultural transformation in modern society. Therefore, we call for interdisciplinary research in natural and social sciences, in-depth study of the ecological culture of ethnic areas, and sort out treasures conducive to the development of all mankind.

Agrobiodiversity Index scores show agrobiodiversity is underutilized in national food systems

The diversity of plants, animals and microorganisms that directly or indirectly support food and agriculture is critical to achieving healthy diets and agroecosystems. Here we present the Agrobiodiversity Index (based on 22 indicators), which provides a monitoring framework and informs food systems policy. Agrobiodiversity Index calculations for 80 countries reveal a moderate mean agrobiodiversity status score (56.0 out of 100), a moderate mean agrobiodiversity action score (47.8 out of 100) and a low mean agrobiodiversity commitment score (21.4 out of 100), indicating that much stronger commitments and concrete actions are needed to enhance agrobiodiversity across the food system. Mean agrobiodiversity status scores in consumption and conservation are 14-82% higher in developed countries than in developing countries, while scores in production are consistently low across least developed, developing and developed countries. We also found an absence of globally consistent data for several important components of agrobiodiversity, including varietal, functional and underutilized species diversity.

Intraspecific plasticity in hydraulic and stomatal regulation under drought is linked to aridity at the seed source in a wild pear species

Adaptations of fruit trees to future climate are a current research priority due to the rapid increase in air temperature and changes in precipitation patterns. This is aimed at securing sustainable food production for our growing populations. Key physiological traits in trees conferring drought tolerance are resistance to embolism and stomatal control over water loss. Recently, we have shown in the field that a native wild pear species performs better under drought than two cultivated pear species. A comparative greenhouse study was conducted to investigate traits associated with drought tolerance in four ecotypes of a wild pear species (Pyrus syriaca Boiss), compared with a wild pear species (Pyrus betulifolia Bunge) commonly used as a pear rootstock. Seed sources were collected from semi-arid, sub-humid and humid sites across northern Israel. Measurements of water relations, leaf physiology, hydraulic conductivity and percent loss of hydraulic conductivity (PLC) were conducted under standard irrigation, drought and recovery from drought. The four P. syriaca ecotypes maintained significantly higher leaf gas exchange values and water-use efficiency and had lower PLC than the rootstock species under prolonged drought as well as during recovery. Across the four ecotypes, stomatal closure occurred at stem water potential (Ψ) around -3.5 MPa; however, Ψ at 50% PLC ranged from -4.1 MPa in the humid ecotype to -5.2 MPa in one of the semi-arid ecotypes, rendering the latter with a higher hydraulic safety margin (the Ψ difference between stomatal closure and 50% PLC). Divergence of the ecotypes in xylem vulnerability to embolism closely matched the mean annual precipitation at their seed sources. Thus, selection of pear ecotypes from populations in semi-arid sites may be better than the currently used plant material for preparing our cultivated species for hotter and drier future climate.

Biostimulation as a Means for Optimizing Fruit Phytochemical Content and Functional Quality of Tomato Landraces of the San Marzano Area

The effect of plant biostimulation on fruits of traditional tomato germplasm is largely unknown. We examined how a tropical plant-derived biostimulant impacts the nutritional, functional, and compositional characteristics of tomato fruits from four landraces, collected in the San Marzano (SM) tomato Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) region, by profiling primary and secondary metabolites. Biostimulation was not able to completely reshuffle the morpho-physiological and nutritional profile of the four landraces. Their distinct phytochemical profile indicated a genotype-specific tuning of the analyzed traits, which also included an improved yield and fruit quality. Biostimulation of SM1 and SM3 increased photosynthetic accumulation of carbohydrate reserves, improved mineral nutrient use efficiency and consequently, yield (+21% and 34%, respectively). Moreover, biostimulation augmented the nutraceutical properties of the SM2 landrace. Interestingly, the plant-derived product increased in all genotypes lycopene, but not polyphenol accumulation in fruits. Our results show the potential of biostimulatory applications towards optimizing the fruit quality of the acclaimed SM landraces, which is suitable to satisfy both the rising consumer demand for premium traditional tomatoes and the technological needs of the food industry.

Embedding Cultivated Diversity in Society for Agro-Ecological Transition

Agroecology calls for a global approach, integrating scientific, practical, and advocacy dimensions, to redesign agricultural systems based on ecological and socio-cultural processes and emphasizing biodiversity. This review is grounded on the results of DIVERSIFOOD, a European H2020 multi-actor research project, and explores the concept of cultivated diversity using various dimensions relevant to foster sustainable organic food systems and agro-ecological transition. From the evaluation of underutilized genetic resources and forgotten crops, DIVERSIFOOD has proposed plant breeding strategies, on-farm experimentation, and statistical tools to create new populations, landraces, and organic cultivars with intra-varietal diversity. The added value of Community Seed Banks and forms of collective seed management in Europe have been described in terms of goals and activities, and their value for improving seed regulations, treaties, and genetic resources management is discussed. In the context of the current agro-food system characterized by standardization, DIVERSIFOOD raised awareness of qualities of ‘biodiverse food systems’ in which all actors have a role to play. It highlighted the critical capacity to preserve a diversity of cultural values embodied in ‘biodiverse products’, thereby involving consumers in collective strategies for reviving diversity, and empowering all actors of organic food systems to really and efficiently implement research within their farms and networks.

Rome, a Policy without Politics: The Participatory Process for a Metropolitan Scale Food Policy

In light of the challenges that all cities face today, food is offered as a prism through which to read and intervene on various areas that affect the quality of life of the population: circular economy, urban metabolism, social relations, economies, and food quality. In the Roman context, in recent years, numerous initiatives have revitalized the debate on food and brought the discussion to the center of the interest of an ever-increasing number of citizens. However, these experiences appear unrelated and there is a lack of coordination and political coherence. Faced with this evidence, starting from a territorial analysis, this contribution analyzes the process that led a local group of stakeholders to formulate a proposal for a food policy for the city of Rome. The proposal contains a series of possible actions that aim, on the one hand, to recompose the relations between the city and its territory, with a view to re-localization and re-territorialization of agro-food productions and, on the other hand, to reconnect the economic and social relations that the industrialization of food chains has compromised. The network analysis of the bottom-up process, which mainly investigates networking and negotiation skills between various interests, is carried out and related to a careful analysis of the food system in the Roman context. Furthermore, an overview of the state of the art of urban food policies in Italy has been provided to better contextualize the study case. The findings show actors and topics involved in the process, identifying further development towards a more comprehensive participatory process for a systemic food strategy at the metropolitan level.

Alimentação saudável e sustentável: uma revisão narrativa sobre desafios e perspectivas

Resumo Parte-se do princípio que um sistema alimentar insustentável não é capaz de produzir alimentos saudáveis para o consumo. A alimentação só pode ser considerada saudável se for também sustentável, devendo ultrapassar a perspectiva nutricional. Assim, realizou-se uma revisão narrativa de literatura acerca de sistemas alimentares saudáveis e sustentáveis, englobando aspectos de produção, processamento, comercialização e consumo, visando levantar seus desafios e perspectivas de consolidação. A alimentação saudável e sustentável deve estar relacionada à produção de alimentos que protejam a biodiversidade e promovam o consumo variado, resgatando alimentos, preparações e hábitos culturais tradicionais. Deve ser acessível e disponível a todos, em quantidade e qualidade, baseada em alimentos produzidos e processados na região, por agricultores familiares, de maneira agroecológica, fundamentada na comercialização justa, aproximando a produção do consumo. Além disso, deve ser isento de contaminantes físicos, biológicos ou químicos que causem malefícios a todos os envolvidos, de maneira aguda ou crônica.

Crop Biodiversity: An Unfinished Magnum Opus of Nature

Crop biodiversity is one of the major inventions of humanity through the process of domestication. It is also an essential resource for crop improvement to adapt agriculture to ever-changing conditions like global climate change and consumer preferences. Domestication and the subsequent evolution under cultivation have profoundly shaped the genetic architecture of this biodiversity. In this review, we highlight recent advances in our understanding of crop biodiversity. Topics include the reduction of genetic diversity during domestication and counteracting factors, a discussion of the relationship between parallel phenotypic and genotypic evolution, the role of plasticity in genotype × environment interactions, and the important role subsistence farmers play in actively maintaining crop biodiversity and in participatory breeding. Linking genotype and phenotype remains the holy grail of crop biodiversity studies.

Sustainable diet from the urban Brazilian consumer perspective

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sustainability and food, and other possible associations with the socio-demographic characteristics and consumer segmentation, as well as to identify the characteristics of sustainable and unsustainable foods and the sustainable diet concept from a consumer perspective. One hundred and fifty consumers responded a questionnaire with word association, free listing, and sentence completion tasks. A thematic analysis was used to analyze the terms. Sustainability and food were associated with the categories health, food of plant origin, and organic food. Healthy was considered the main characteristic of a sustainable food and degradation to the environment was the characteristic of unsustainable food. Regarding the sustainable diet concept, the terms healthy diet and sustainable production stood out. Individuals of higher educational level associated food and sustainability with natural resource preservation and reuse, while individuals with lower educational levels reported the association with healthy food, nutrition, and food of plant origin. The present findings can help designing strategies to integrate food and nutrition education and formulation of public policies, as well as identifying the target market and understanding how the product or service can meet the consumer's needs.

Education, practical training and professional development for public health practitioners: a scoping review of the literature and insights for sustainable food system capacity-building

OBJECTIVE

Noting the upstream positioning of sustainable food systems (SFS) to multiple global crises, the present review described examples of emerging and promising practices to support SFS-oriented education, practical training (PT) and continuing professional development (CPD) among trainees and public health practitioners (PHP). A secondary objective was to compile the evidence into practical considerations for educators, supervising practitioners and professional associations.

DESIGN

A scoping review of the literature published between 2007 and 2017 was conducted in May 2017 using four databases: CINAHL, MEDLINE, Scopus and HSSA, along with bibliography hand-searching and expert consultation. Articles were screened for relevance and specificity by independent raters.

RESULTS

Nineteen articles were included for analysis. Two-thirds of the articles related to dietitians and public health nutritionists. Emerging practices included curriculum-based considerations, incorporation of 'sustainability' within professional competencies and self-reflection related to SFS. Descriptions of SFS-related education, PT and CPD practices appeared largely in the literature from developed countries. Articles converged on the need for ecosystems, food systems and sustainability considerations within and across practice to support current and future practitioners.

CONCLUSIONS

There is growing interest in SFS but guidance to support educators and preceptors is lacking. Updates to dietary guidelines to reflect issues of sustainability are a timely prompt to examine the education, training and development needs of trainees and PHP. Practical examples of emerging practices can empower PHP to promote SFS in all areas of practice. More research is needed to address identified gaps in the literature and to improve SFS-specific education, PT and CPD.

Adequação normativa dos planos estaduais de segurança alimentar e nutricional no Brasil

Resumo: Com o intuito de analisar a adequação dos Planos Estaduais de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (PlanSAN) às normas estabelecidas pela Política Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (PNSAN), foi realizada pesquisa descritiva e documental, com coleta de dados entre agosto a outubro de 2016. O acesso aos planos foi realizado na página de Internet da Câmara Interministerial de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (CAISAN) ou dos governos estaduais, com coleta de informações complementares no âmbito dos estados. Todos os estados brasileiros aderiram ao Sistema de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SISAN), entretanto menos da metade (13 estados, 48%) elaborou seus planos, destacando-se alguns aspectos: 5 (38%) dos PlanSAN tinham vigência correspondente ao plano plurianual do estado; 5 (38%) dos PlanSAN descreviam os requisitos orçamentários para execução das metas propostas; e 7 (54%) descreviam mecanismos de monitoramento do plano e apenas 2 (15%) definiam metodologia para monitoramento de segurança alimentar e nutricional. O menor tempo de existência da CAISAN e de adesão parecem estar relacionados com a inexistência de PlanSAN. Ainda que a maioria dos estados com planos atendam algumas normativas estabelecidas pela PNSAN, esses instrumentos tornam-se frágeis e pouco exequíveis quando não possuem vinculação orçamentária para suas metas. Pelo fato de a PNSAN ser estruturalmente intersetorial, a construção dos planos depende de um trabalho coletivo das diversas secretarias de governo. Reforça-se que os itens analisados foram todos normativos, o que implica necessidade do estabelecimento de mecanismos que garantam a sua adequada execução.

A Systematic Review of the Measurement of Sustainable Diets

Sustainability has become an integral consideration of the dietary guidelines of many countries in recent decades. However, a lack of clear metrics and a shared approach to measuring the multiple components of sustainable diets has hindered progress toward generating the evidence needed to ensure the credibility of new guidelines. We performed a systematic literature review of empirical research studies on sustainable diets to identify the components of sustainability that were measured and the methods applied to do so. Two independent reviewers systematically searched 30 databases and other sources with the use of a uniform set of search terms and a priori exclusion criteria. In total, 113 empirical studies were included in the final review. Nearly all of the studies were focused on high-income countries. Although there was substantial heterogeneity in the components of sustainability measured, the estimated greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs) of various dietary patterns were by far most commonly measured (n = 71 studies). Estimating the GHGEs of foods through various stages of production, use, and recycling with the use of the Life Cycle Assessment approach was the most common method applied to measure the environmental impacts of diets (n = 49 studies). Many components of sustainable diets identified in existing conceptual frameworks are disproportionately underrepresented in the empirical literature, as are studies that examine consumer demand for sustainable dietary alternatives. The emphasis in the literature on high-income countries also overlooks the production and dietary alternatives most relevant to low- and middle-income countries. We propose 3 methodological and measurement approaches that would both improve the global relevance of our understanding of sustainable diets and attend more completely to the existing multidimensional, multiscale conceptual framing of sustainable diets.

Modeling Sustainable Food Systems

The processes underlying environmental, economic, and social unsustainability derive in part from the food system. Building sustainable food systems has become a predominating endeavor aiming to redirect our food systems and policies towards better-adjusted goals and improved societal welfare. Food systems are complex social-ecological systems involving multiple interactions between human and natural components. Policy needs to encourage public perception of humanity and nature as interdependent and interacting. The systemic nature of these interdependencies and interactions calls for systems approaches and integrated assessment tools. Identifying and modeling the intrinsic properties of the food system that will ensure its essential outcomes are maintained or enhanced over time and across generations, will help organizations and governmental institutions to track progress towards sustainability, and set policies that encourage positive transformations. This paper proposes a conceptual model that articulates crucial vulnerability and resilience factors to global environmental and socio-economic changes, postulating specific food and nutrition security issues as priority outcomes of food systems. By acknowledging the systemic nature of sustainability, this approach allows consideration of causal factor dynamics. In a stepwise approach, a logical application is schematized for three Mediterranean countries, namely Spain, France, and Italy.

Enabling nutrient security and sustainability through systems research

Human and companion animal health depends upon nutritional quality of foods. Seed varieties, seasonal and local growing conditions, transportation, food processing, and storage, and local food customs can influence the nutrient content of food. A new and intensive area of investigation is emerging that recognizes many factors in these agri-food systems that influence the maintenance of nutrient quality which is fundamental to ensure nutrient security for world populations. Modeling how these systems function requires data from different sectors including agricultural, environmental, social, and economic, but also must incorporate basic nutrition and other biomedical sciences. Improving the agri-food system through advances in pre- and post-harvest processing methods, biofortification, or fortifying processed foods will aid in targeting nutrition for populations and individuals. The challenge to maintain and improve nutrient quality is magnified by the need to produce food locally and globally in a sustainable and consumer-acceptable manner for current and future populations. An unmet requirement for assessing how to improve nutrient quality, however, is the basic knowledge of how to define health. That is, health cannot be maintained or improved by altering nutrient quality without an adequate definition of what health means for individuals and populations. Defining and measuring health therefore becomes a critical objective for basic nutritional and other biomedical sciences.