environmental cost of Food production
Global food systems contribute to 25-30% of greenhouse gas emissions and most of biodiversity loss.
40% of the earth’s surface and 70% of freshwater resources are being used by food systems.
In Belgium, about 20% of total GHG emissions are linked to the food system.
Diet-related Burden of disease
In Belgium, most non-communicable diseases (NCD's) are diet-related and account for 87% of all deaths.
€3.3 billion (13.5% of health care costs) annually is spent on the direct costs of obesity.
Less than 10% of Belgians meet the dietary guidelines.
A Federal long-term vision for sustainable development
"Eliminate negative health- and environmental impacts of diets by 2050 through healthy food products, integrated agricultural production and less food waste."
What is Susfoodbel?
Susfoodbel is a research project, funded by BRAIN Belspo. The project aims to identify priority policies impacting on the food environment (i.e. the interface where people interact with the wider food system to acquire and consume foods) and their dietary trajectory scenarios (i.e. reducing animal protein intakes, increasing fruit and vegetable intakes, among others). All this with eventual goal to create sustainable healthy diets in Belgium. The project will measure multiple sustainability impacts of transitioning from current diets to sustainable healthy diets, as well as the contributions of the identified priority policies and dietary trajectory scenarios to realize such a transition.
