Sustainability is balancing the needs of people, profit, and the planet for a positive impact.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations describes a sustainable food system as one that delivers food security and nutritious foods for populations in a way that does not impact future generations [1].

The FAO describes the components of sustainable diets as multifactorial, yet accessible (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Components of a sustainable diet [2]

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has identified that population-level dietary shifts towards balanced, sustainable and healthy diets is an important solution for climate change.

Water, energy, land use, loss of biodiversity and a range of other impacts must all be considered to fully understand environmentally-sustainable food systems.

Some common environmental indicators include:

• Carbon footprint – measured by emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG)

• Land footprint – characterised by land use and stress

• Water footprint – characterised by water scarcity.

The nut industry aspires to lead nut farming and production into a sustainable future for the planet, by continuing to give people access to healthy, nutritious, and safe nuts and nut products.

Fast facts

• Food and agriculture impact the environment. The food supply chain is responsible for around a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, and uses about 70% of the world’s freshwater supplies and nearly 40% of global land [3].

• Eating in line with the Australian Dietary Guidelines could result in a 42% lower climate footprint, compared to the current average Australian adult [4].

• The largest food-related GHG emissions per capita come from high-income countries, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia [5].

• If global food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, behind the United States and China [6].

• Australians throw away >$10 billion worth of edible food (20% of groceries) every year [7]. And food waste is estimated to contribute 6% of Australia’s total food-related GHG emissions [8].

• Australia uses around 2,600 gigalitres of water (that’s five times the volume of water in the Sydney Harbour) to grow food that is then wasted [9].

• Around one third (27-33%) of the total food-related greenhouse gas emissions in Australia and New Zealand are due to discretionary foods [5].

• Discretionary foods contribute the most, at around 25%, to the total ‘water scarcity footprint’ of Australian adult diets [10].

• The Planetary Health Reference Diet, developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission, recommends plant-based foods, such as nuts and legumes, make up 80% of the total amount of the ‘protein’ food group [11].

• Red meat and animal-based alternatives (poultry, fish/seafood, and eggs) contribute 87% to the total servings consumed within the ‘protein’ food group of the current Australian Dietary Guidelines. Plant foods (nuts and legumes) contribute just 13% [12].

• The Mediterranean diet, which includes nuts, has been described as an achievable dietary pattern for Australians, with health and environmental benefits [13].