Food Systems
As a Markets and Food Science Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Maya led an interdisciplinary, international working group of scientific experts on the topic of food and protein sustainability. Together, this group of interdisciplinary scientists are leading a series of innovative research projects that synthesize existing data in new ways to gain insight into the feasible futures for protein production and the impacts that production will have on the environment, nutrition, and livelihoods. By focusing on crop, livestock, and aquatic forms of protein as well as social and environmental impacts, we are bringing together the necessary pieces to understand the implications of future scaling of different commodities across the globe.
Abstracts
Protein Pollution.
Total and per capita protein consumption rates in US diets, whether from plant or animal sources, rank among the highest in the world. When protein consumption out-paces physiologic protein demands, excess amino acids are degraded in the human body and nitrogen is excreted and released to the environment, mainly as urea. Such excess reactive nitrogen can enter downstream and downwind environments, thereby impairing human and ecosystem health and contributing to economic losses. We show that matching protein consumption with physiologic requirements would reduce US nitrogen losses to aquatic systems by 12% and overall losses to atmospheric and hydrologic systems by 4%. Were US citizens to consume protein at recommended rates, projected nitrogen excretion rates in 2055 would be 27% less than they are today despite population growth. Optimizing US protein consumption to levels that meet human health standards has environmental benefits on par with improving wastewater treatment using existing technology.
The Nitrogen Challenge.
Nitrogen is a critical component of the economy, food security, and planetary health. Many of the world's sustainability targets hinge on global nitrogen solutions, which, in turn, contribute lasting benefits for (i) world hunger; (ii) soil, air, and water quality; (iii) climate change mitigation; and (iv) biodiversity conservation. Balancing the projected rise in agricultural nitrogen demands while achieving these 21st century ideals will require policies to coordinate solutions among technologies, consumer choice, and socioeconomic transformation.
Food Transformations.
Recent global food system analyses call for an urgent transition to sustainability of the human diet through a shift toward plant-based diets, but do not elaborate on how this might be feasibly achieved. To understand how food systems might transition in the future we examine the factors that fostered major dietary shifts in the past 70 years. Guided by transition and food regime theories, we draw on data from diverse disciplines. Specifically, we review post World War 2 shifts in consumption of three food commodities – farmed Tilapia, milk, and chicken – across eight countries. We show that large-scale shifts in commodity systems and diets have taken place when public-funded technological innovation is scaled-up by the private sector under supportive state and international policy regimes. Our work suggests that the desired sustainability transition will require public policy leadership and private-sector technological innovation alongside consumers who culturally value and can afford healthy, sustainable diets. It may also require a shift away from industrial production-consumption food regimes.