Sustainable Diet
2,5 ECTS submodule equals 70 student hours
This submodule gives an introduction to sustainable diets and how these diets contribute to reaching UNs sustainable development goals (SDG) globally and locally.
Sustainable diets have low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations.
Students will gain basic knowledge on the environmental impact of different food groups, and how to assess the environmental impact of food, e.g. where in the food chain the emissions are the greatest.
Further, the students will be introduced to food waste and its economic and environmental consequences, and they will gain knowledge on how to reduce food waste.
The students will learn about the importance of food environment, affecting people’s food choices, and will be able to evaluate the sustainability of the food offered in the campus canteen.
Level:
Bachelor
Start Date:
in collaboration with your instructor/teacher at your higher education institution
Target audience:
Students at bachelor level
Instructor Information:
3 teacher guidelines have been developed
OBJECTIVES
Course Objectives & Outcomes
Knowledge
- Have basic knowledge about what characterizes a sustainable diet
- Have insight into the environmental impact of different food groups and food waste
- Be able to describe and evaluate national dietary guidelines in the light of a sustainable diet
Skills
- The ability to discuss and share knowledge about sustainable diets
- The ability to compare different national dietary guidelines and assess their level of sustainability
- The ability to act for changing local food environment.
General competencies
- Be abe to reflect and discuss ethical issues related to food and sustainability.
Description of 10 ECTS Module SustainComp for teachers
Description of 10 ECTS Module SustainComp for students
COURES
Course structure
Freqency of classes
Expected commitment for students
Learning and teaching methods
- Lectures and seminars with ICT use
- Individual and group project work
- Collaborate Online International Learning (COIL)
COURES
Additional information
Prerequisities
none
Course syllabus/Learning resources
- Dietary guidelines and sustainability: Available from: https://www.fao.org/nutrition/education/food-dietary-guidelines/background/sustainable-dietary-guidelines/en/ (1 page)
- Clark, M., Macdiarmid, J., Jones, A. D., Ranganathan, J., Herrero, M., & Fanzo, J. (2020). The Role of Healthy Diets in Environmentally Sustainable Food Systems. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 41(2_suppl), 31S-58S. https://doi.org/10.1177/0379572120953734 (28 pages)
- UN Sustainable Development goals. Available from: https://sdgs.un.org/goals (pages not clear)
- Ritchie, and Roser M. (2020) – “Environmental Impacts of Food Production”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food‘ [Online Resource] (pages not clear)
- Ranganathan, J., Vennard, D., Waite, R., Searchinger, T., Dumas, P., & Lipinski, B. (2016). Shifting diets: Toward a sustainable food future. In Global Food Policy Report (pp. 67–79). INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IFPRI). Chapter 8. https://www.ifpri.org/publication/shifting-diets-toward-sustainable-food-future (14 pages)
- EAT Lancet report summary report: https://eatforum.org/content/uploads/2019/07/EAT-Lancet_Commission_Summary_Report.pdf (32 pages)
Assessment and Grading
Attendance and a poster (group work) from one of the three avtivities/tasks.
- Zhongming, Z., Linong, L., Xiaona, Y., Wangqiang, Z., & Wei, L. (2021). UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2021. Page 7-19 (summary) (7 pages)
- Ritchie, H. (2020) – ” Food waste is responsible for 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions “. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/food-waste-emissions [Online Resource] (1 page)
- Schuster, M and Torero, M (2016). Toward a sustainable food system: Reducing Food Loss and Waste. In: Global Food Policy Report (pp. 23-31). INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (IFPRI).Chapter 3. https://www.ifpri.org/publication/shifting-diets-toward-sustainable-food-future (10 pages)
- Swinburn B, Vandevijvere S, Kraak V, Sacks G, Snowdon W, Hawkes C, et al. Monitoring and benchmarking government policies and actions to improve the healthiness of food environments: a proposed Government Healthy Food Environment Policy Index. Obesity Reviews 2013;14 Suppl 1:24-37.(14 pages)
- FAO & WHO. 2019. Sustainable healthy diets: Guiding principles: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241516648 (37 pages)
TESTIMONIALS
What Our Students Say
It was a good idea . I feel like it provided new cultural insight into different food groups.
Great way of connecting with other students from different countries to discuss food related topics.
