ABSTRACT
This chapter defines and describes sustainability and its impact on food and nutrition. It also describes the impact of climate change on human health generally and then for food and nutrition more specifically. The chapter outlines strategies that have been identified to improve the sustainability of the food system and how people, as a nutrition professional, can integrate this into nutrition advice. Sustainability as a concept first emerged in 1987 from the Brundtland Report, which defined sustainable development as development that ‘meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Sustainability within the food and nutrition context encompasses the entire food system, from production to consumption and post consumption to waste. Environmental sustainability means living responsibly to avoid depletion or degradation of our natural resources, so that future generations are not disadvantaged. Sustainability is integral to the conceptualisation of food security.
