National Food Policy: Healthy and Sustainable Diet Analysis Report

This report delves into the complex concept of a healthy and sustainable diet, emphasizing the need to integrate environmental considerations into food and health policies, using the Australian Dietary Guidelines as a basis. It examines the current national diet, detailing consumption patterns of the five food groups and comparing animal-based versus plant-based foods and discretionary food consumption. The report analyzes the causes of the gap between the recommended and current diets, highlighting issues in the food supply chain, greenhouse gas emissions, water usage, and the impact of agriculture and trade. It then formulates a national food policy, referencing the "NOURISHING" framework, and discusses policy actions to promote healthy and sustainable food systems, including government initiatives like the Australian Dietary Guidelines and other programs.

Health and Sustainability

Table of Contents
Healthy & Sustainable Diet........................................................................................................3
Current National Diet.................................................................................................................4
Consumption of 5 food group foods......................................................................................4
Animal versus plant based foods............................................................................................6
Discretionary foods................................................................................................................7
Analyse the cause(s) of the gap between the current diet and one that is healthy and
sustainable..................................................................................................................................7
Formulate a national food policy containing a coherent set of policy actions to promote
healthy and sustainable food systems........................................................................................8
References................................................................................................................................13

Healthy & Sustainable Diet
The concept of sustainable diet is a highly complex issue and sustainable dietary patterns are
essential to reduce environmental burden. To achieve the purpose, nutritional, social, cultural
and economic aspects of diet are required to be taken into consideration (1). All the food
systems from primary production of food to when it is consumed rely on natural resources
like water fertile soil and biodiversity. The food systems currently account for around 30% of
the energy consumption of the world and more than 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions
(GHGE).
Sustainable diets are defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as diets with
low environmental impact that contributes to the food and nutrition security and towards
healthy life for present and future generations. Sustainable diets protect and respect
biodiversity as well as ecosystems and are culturally acceptable, accessible, affordable, and
nutritionally safe and healthy, while optimizing natural and human resources (2). The basis of
Healthy and Sustainable (H&S) diet is to introduce principles of environmental sustainability
into aspects of food and health and to emphasize on the integration of environmental
considerations into food and health policy particularly dietary guidelines (3). The
development of H&S diet was based on health principles and was constructed on the basis of
specific conventional health of the Australian Dietary Guidelines (ADG). The ADG provides
specific guidelines to be followed to achieve the aim associated with the health and
sustainability related to the food and nutrition (4).

Current National Diet
As per the report of ADG, which include the guidelines to be followed by the Australians,
which include variety of nutritious food products from Five Food Groups and plenty of water
(5).
Consumption of 5 food group foods
There are five food groups mentioned by the ADG are;
 Vegetables and legumes or beans
 Fruits
 Milk, yoghurt, cheese and other alternatives
 Lean meat and poultry, eggs, tofu, fish, nuts and seeds and legumes or beans, lean
meats and other alternatives
 Grain or cereals
The guidelines provided by the ADG comprises minimum suggested serves to be consumed
by the population of Australia in order to satisfy the requirements of nutrients as well as to
reduce the risks associated with diet related chronic disease.

Majority of Australians do not meet the suggested minimum number of serves of any of the
Five Food Groups from non-discretionary sources of food (5).
Vegetables & Legumes group- The Australians from the age group staring from 2 years
consume average 2.7 serves of this food group per day and only 4% of population receive
enough serves on everyday basis. The adults above the age of 19 years have around 3 serves
of this group per day and around 4% usually consuming minimum recommended serves per
day. Furthermore, the children between the age group of 2 and 18 receive 1.8 serves every
day and only less than 1% consumes recommended number of vegetable serves (5).
Fruit Groups- Around 1.5 serves of fruit, which include fruit juice and dried fruits consumed
by the Australians every year. The children consume more serves of fruits as compared to the
adults and around one-third of the Australians above the age of 2 years meet their
requirements for fruits, and males more likely to meet the requirements as compared to
females (5).
Milk products- The Australians above the age of 2 years consume 1.5 serves of the milk
products every day and only 10% meet their daily requirements of dairy products. Only 7.2%
females meet their daily requirements and 12% males comparatively (5).
Lean meats and poultry food- The consumption of this food group include 1.7 serves every
day for Australians and around 14% meet their daily requirements (6).
Grains or cereals- The Australians above the age group of 2 years consume around 4.5
serves of cereals every day and around 30% meet their every day requirements (5).
Animal versus plant based foods
As per the ADG, plenty of vegetables and legumes and beans must be consumed as it is
considered as the vital source of variety of vitamins, minerals and fibres essential for the
body. The consumption of plant based products reduces the risk of chronic diseases which
include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancers (7). It maintains body weight as they

are energy rich food products. Furthermore, fruits obtained from plants can easily be
consumed in fresh forms, frozen or dried forms and are considered as healthy diet
components (8).
On the contrary, animal products are also essential for body which include milk products
such as milk, yoghurt, cheese and such other products. However, it is suggested by the ADG
that low-fat varieties of dairy products should be preferred so that fat requirements of the
body do not exceed (9). The lean meats and associated food products comprise of food
products from animals, which include lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs and other associated
food products. This group provide various types of proteins along with micronutrients to the
body such as iodine, zinc, vitamin B12, and polyunsaturated fatty acids known as omega
acids, which are considered as highly essential for the body. There are various benefits
associated with meat and fish and other poultry products such as they are rich source of
nutrients but they are also associated with certain kinds of cancerous conditions,
cardiovascular diseases and risk of dementia and age related macular degeneration (10).
So, plant based products provide only the benefits to the body but animal products are
associated with certain kinds of diseases due to which safe and secure consumption of animal
based products is essential.
Discretionary foods
The discretionary food products are those food products, which are not essential as nutrients
for body but possess high amount of saturated fats, salt and sugar quantity or alcohol, that are
sometimes required to be consumed in small quantities. In order to remain consistent with the
ADG, only the non-discretionary food products are taken into consideration (5). The common
discretionary food sources containing fruits include non-alcoholic beverages and soft drinks.
The products made from plant products include chips, fries and other snacks.

Analyse the cause(s) of the gap between the current diet and one that
is healthy and sustainable
According to the Australian Dietary Guidelines, there are Five Food Groups, the items of
which need to be incorporated in the daily diet of the people. They include Vegetables and
legumes/beans; Fruits; Milk, cheese, yoghurt and/or alternatives; Fish, eggs, tofu, Lean meat
and poultry, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans; and Grain (cereal) foods. The problem exists
in the consumption of the diet. The Australians do not intake the recommended number of
serves of the Five Food groups. However, the consumption of discretionary foods is less for
the population. Thus, the policies need to be amended as per the requirements of the Five
Food groups (11).
There have also been issues pertaining to the food supply chain for managing the
sustainability in the food process. The food supply chains are very prone to Greenhouse gas
emissions at different stages such as processing, packaging, distribution, and storage. The use
of water is very high in treating the meat which is one of the major components of Five Foods
group and bit also presents a sustainability challenge. The supply chain for the meat and
related products requires the consumption of high amount of water. Also, the cereals and
grain require intensive irrigation in the production stages which pose the sustainability
challenges. The food system of Australia or its H&S diet is dependent on the agricultural
produce, processing of the food and the distribution, packaging and retail of the food
materials and they are also dependent on the huge consumption of land and water resources
which present the sustainability challenges for the country as well as the food policy. Thus,
the food policy needs to take the environmental and the health aspects into consideration. The
H&S diet has been developed to support the discussions pertaining to the food and health,
especially in consideration with the dietary guidelines of Australia (12).

Broader public policy activities such as agriculture, finance and trade are also the contributors
to the lack of sustainability measures of the country. The agriculture leads to alter the natural
vegetation of the country and they impact the land and water resources as well. The native
biodiversity of an area is also impacted by the agricultural activities carried out on the fields.
The introduction of exotic species and the clearing of the land or the agricultural activities lay
a huge impact on the sustainability of the environment. Trade liberalisation is also
responsible for causing pollution in the environment as the trade of many agricultural and
animal products are obtained by causing the changes in the natural environment (13). The
food policies also need to take effective measures for increasing the financial resources which
can allow the people to afford the balanced food diet recommended in H&S policies. The
food security is a matter which needs to be monitored by the national government. The food
insecurity is still an issue for the Australian Government and healthy food needs to be
accessible for the population (12).
Formulate a national food policy containing a coherent set of policy
actions to promote healthy and sustainable food systems
For making sure that the health and sustainability are maintained in the nation, the
government of Australia has made several policies. There have been a wide range of the food
policies for promoting healthier eating among the people of the nation and making sure that
the sustainable measures are taken for completing the food supply chain across the nation.
For addressing all the key areas of health and sustainability, the policy framework known as
“NOURISHING” has been developed. This policy was developed by the World Cancer
Research Fund International for formalizing a policy package for promoting the healthier
eating among the people, providing e global level recommendations for the policy makers to
select specific policy options for their nations as per the local requirements. The main aim of
this policy is to improve the dietary behaviours of the people living in Australia by improving

the availability, affordability and acceptability of healthy diets and decreasing accessibility to
the unhealthy diets. Thus, it can be said that this policy is developed by the World Cancer
Research Fund International in collaboration with the governments of various nations in order
to ensure that the people take the healthy diets and are less prone to cancer and other
disorders (14).
The frame work is made up of three major domains of policy actions which are made in a
way that they suit the national populations and contexts in different nations. Then main
responsibility for implementing this policy in Australia lies with the government of Australia
and they have developed different guidelines to make sure that these guidelines are
implemented properly and the people are getting enough diets to remain healthy. Apart from
the government, the other private health Boards are also responsible for taking specific
actions for implementing the health and sustainability measures in the nation. These actions
taken by the government are known to be the policy actions. The government of Australia
have also launched the Australian Dietary Guidelines to show the types of food and the
amount of food which the Australians must take in each serve and how the dietary patterns
must be followed to promote healthy lifestyle among the people. The guidelines contain the
specifi8c dietary advice for pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, children and
adolescents, adults and older Australians. The Australian government has also launched
several other programs along with the NOURISDHING framework which are covered under
the Food policy. Healthy Food Partnership and the Health Star Rating system are parts of the
national nutrition framework. However, the country does not have any national food and
nutrition plan. The government is the major responsible authority for managing these plans
and implementing them throughout the population. The Australian population needs to be
managed and motivated to implement these guidelines so that they can maintain good health
and stay away from the health problems such as cancer, obesity and such others (15).

There are a number of benefits and risks associated with the health policy launched by the
Australian Government:
The policy highlights the importance of the food environment including the nutritional
labelling standards; economic approaches such as food taxes or targeted subsidies; restriction
of food advertising; establishment and the development of the healthy food standards and
launching them in the public institutions and the general public standards; creating an
environment of the food service and improve the quality of the food supply. It also helps in
the development of food system which links all the food supply chains and policies as well as
the strategies which promote the health outcomes between and across all the relevant sectors.
It also highlights the behaviour change communication which needs to be done between the
government as well as the common people to make them aware about the healthy eating
choices and empower the individuals to choose them (1).
However, with the launch of any framework which is to be implemented on such a large
scale, there are certain problems which are related to their implementation. The
implementation of these policies is very difficult on such a large scale as making a large
population aware of the healthy dietary habits is difficult and a challenging task. Also, there
are a number of provisions under this policy which need to be fulfilled and they must present
a challenge for the authorities of Australia to implement them. The required paperwork is
also very high. The main challenge associated with the organizations are pertaining to
management of the food supply chain as there are a large number of levels which need to be
coordinated for the same. For making ball the provisions of this food chain accessible, the
government will need to promote the agricultural activities in the nation which pose a threat
to the sustainability of the nation. Increase in the agricultural land will decrease the natural
plant flora in the area. Deforestation of the forest area is required to meet the agricultural
demands of the population to provide them healthy diet including Five Food Groups. The use

of land and water resources for meeting these needs might be high which can prove to be a
challenge for the sustainability of the nation. Limited number of people in the health and
nutrition industry can also prove to be a challenge and thus, the country needs to invest on the
education in this field (16).
There are three orders of food system which need to be taken care of while formulating the
policy actions. They include-
a) Impact of food system on food availability, affordability and acceptability. For this,
specific agricultural and food systems policies have been framed for promoting
healthy eating. For instance, the policy actions such as development of the trade
policies which makes the obtaining of the raw materials for the healthy food at low
rates and increasing the rates of the ingredients required for the unhealthy foods. It
will help in reduction in the consumption of the unhealthy food. A – a ‘health in all
policies’ approach can be developed to improve the sustainability of the policy
actions. Government structures need to be developed in different departments to make
sure that the implementation of these policies takes place in an effective manner (17).
b) The second order of food system is related to the supply chain of the food materials.
The major policy action taken by Australian Government in this aspect is to “Harness
supply chain and actions across sectors to ensure coherence with health”. The
government must be responsible for responding to the supply chain on the basis of the
anticipation of the needs of the food material. The taxes on the food items which are
healthy must be reduced. For instance, the countries like Denmark increased the taxes
on the food items containing the saturated fats and this led to a considerable reduction
in the consumption of the unhealthy food items.
c) The third order of the food system is relayed to the explicit intention of changing food
availability, affordability and acceptability which can be used promote the

consumption of the healthy diets. For the policy actions such as improving the
logistics of the supply chains making the culturally available food and vegetables
available to the public through public procurement. For these actions as well, the
efforts of the government need to be developed (16).
For formulating, implementing and evaluating your policy and each of its actions, the
government as well as the other local and private authorities are held responsible. The
government is the governing authority which will, formulating all the policy actions for
making sure that the population of the country gets enough healthy food. The issues such as
food security, controlling the trade of raw materials and the food and vegetables required to
co9mplete the nutritional requirements are developed by the government. They need to
formulate the trade policies. The finance related aspects are also to be monitored by the
central government. However, the implementation of these policies is regulated by both the
private and public local authorities (18). The authorities at the state level make sure that the
people are well aware about the healthy food diet and its importance for the people and their
sustainability. They must be well educated regarding the Five Food groups and their
consumption in significant amounts. The private and the public state authorities run the
nutrition programmes to make sure that the implementation of the health policies formulated
by the central government is well implemented and the people know what to take in their
diets and how many serves are required. The professional agencies are also responsible for
carrying out the awareness schemes and a few private agencies also give the personalized
nutritional; plans to the customers to make sure that they consume the healthy diet and stay
away from the associated health problems. The doctors also play an important role in
guidi8ng the pregnant women regarding the healthy diet procedures (18).

References
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