Wednesday, March 2, 2016

SCAN Symposium Session 2016: SCAN Symposium Session 2016: How Sustainability is Shaping the Shopping Cart

This week’s blog post features Kate Geagan, MS, RD Nutrition Communicators Consultant.  Her session is titled: “How Sustainability is Shaping the Shopping Cart.”  Consumer interest about what’s in our food and how it’s produced has grown exponentially, driven by a number of factors and concerns including animal welfare, worker conditions, degree and type of processing, ingredient sourcing, desire to buy locally, and the local and global environmental impact of our food choices as well as access to more information than ever before. However, the integration of guidance to reduce the environmental impact of the diet and dietary recommendations for optimal health is complex, highly regionalized and a young discipline without strong consensus or integration to date. Where and to what extent do sustainability and health converge, and what advice can we give to consumers looking to eat more sustainably?  This session will provide insights on the latest evidence and initiatives from the fields of nutrition, food systems, and environmental science as well as strategies for helping consumers navigate this complex landscape to make food choices that deliver on nutrition, taste and sustainability to promote a positive health culture that extends to the environment.