390: Integrating Nutrition and Environmental Impacts Into Nutritional Life Cycle Assessment (nLCA) for Sustainable Agri-Food Systems

Introduction

With a growing global population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, there is an imperative need to address the environmental impacts of agri-food production. Food is an essential resource, providing nutrition to humans for a living.Therefore, incorporating nutritional and life-cycle environmental impacts is critical to capture the overall sustainability of agri-food systems. Though nLCA studies were reported, a limited number of studies established frameworks to fully understand the complex nutritional effects on food sustainability.

Methods

A literature review was conducted based on nLCA articles published from 2013 to 2024: (1) to review the current status of nLCA, (2) to compare various nLCA frameworks to develop a comprehensive framework for the agri-food sector, (3) to identify nutritional impacts of different frameworks through case studies, and (4) to search challenges and opportunities for future potential nLCA studies.

Results

The findings indicate that combining nutritional and environmental metrics provides a more balanced view of food sustainability. In particular, frameworks based on country-specific dietary patterns showed case studies more applicable for assessing local food products. Additionally, frameworks combining nutrient indices provide a more detailed Life Cycle Impact Assessment by providing impacts of both beneficial nutrients, like omega-3 fatty acids and fiber, and detrimental factors, such as sodium and sugars.The results highlight merge of nutritional factors into LCA frameworks helps gain a well-rounded perspective of food sustainability.

Significance

By combining both environmental and nutritional factors, these frameworks can be utilized as useful tools for diverse stakeholders such as food producers, consumers, and policymakers to make informed sustainable food production and consumption choices. This research highlights the necessity for an overarching approach to sustainability in food systems. Current frameworks can be modified to include a broader range of health impacts for enhancing the sustainability formation of agri-food systems.

Authors: Seung Hyun Yoo, Minliang Yang