To reduce environmental impacts from the food system, demand-side changes, especially reductions in the consumption of animal products in high-consuming populations, are needed. This will require policies promoting red meat reductions, since dietary patterns are difficult to change, but such policies will likely meet opposition from certain food industry actors. An example is provided by the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR), the evidence base underpinning all food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) in the Nordic countries. The updated version recommends that individuals restrict red and processed meat consumption to a maximum of 350 grams per week for health reasons, and advises ‘considerably less’ is consumed for environmental reasons. During the revision of the NNR, Nordic red meat industry actors and farmers’ associations were quick to respond to indications that lower amounts of red meat would be recommended. We conducted a frame analysis of responses relating to red meat consumption made by these actors in the public consultations on the NNR. Our analytical framework built on literature-based frames commonly used by the meat industry in countries with high meat consumption. The results showed that actors supporting the red meat industry generally opposed reductions to red meat consumption (and production) by framing red meat consumption as healthy and red meat production as providing social, economic and environmental benefits. Red meat actors also questioned the science (or scientists) supporting reductions in red meat consumption. For any national authority tasked with developing dietary recommendations, it is crucial to identify how these actors frame red meat consumption and use these frames to influence the formulation of sustainable dietary guidelines.

Plant-rich diets have gained recognition for their environmental sustainability. However, relatively few studies have compared dietary habits of vegans and omnivores in terms of compliance with nutritional recommendations and dietary greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which this study aimed to assess. We used data on 651 omnivores and 68 vegans from the Icelandic National Dietary Survey (2019–2021) and a comparable survey on vegans (2022–2023), respectively. The median dietary GHG emissions was substantially lower among vegans than omnivores (2.6 vs. 5.3 kg CO₂-eq/day). Compared to omnivores, vegans had a proportionally higher intake of energy from carbohydrates (48% vs. 39%) but a lower intake from fat (35% vs. 40%) and proteins (12% vs. 18%). More vegans compared to omnivores fell within the dietary recommendations for fiber (74% vs. 8%) and saturated fat (56% vs. 7%) while vegans were less likely to have protein intake in line with the recommended ≥ 0.83 g/kg body weight (52% vs. 79%). Despite frequent use of dietary food supplements among vegans (97%) and omnivores (72%) the prevalence of those reaching the recommended intake of iodine, calcium and vitamin D, was low (40–60%) in both groups. In conclusion, vegans were overall more compliant with macronutrient recommendations and had substantially lower dietary GHG emissions compared to omnivores. In terms of meeting dietary recommendations, room for improvements was observed in both groups.

Background: Health authorities are increasingly integrating environmental sustainability considerations into food-based dietary guidelines. However, concerns persist about the accuracy of the data used to assess environmental impacts, as well as the extent to which these guidelines are followed in practice. Aim: To compare dietary greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions estimates using different top-down and bottom-up life cycle assessment (LCA) databases; and to estimate GHG emissions of food consumption within the ranges set for meat and dairy in recently proposed environmentally sustainable diets. Methods: Dietary GHG emissions were estimated for participants in the 2019–2021 Icelandic National Dietary Survey (n = 822) using three publicly available LCA databases from Denmark, the US, and France. GHG emissions among participants whose consumption was aligned with the EAT-Lancet diet, the 2021 Danish food-based dietary guidelines and the 2023 Nordic Nutrition Recommendations were also quantified. Results: The mean dietary GHG emissions among participants were 6.3, 6.1, and 6.1 kg CO2-eq/day based on the Danish (top-down), US (bottom-up), and French (bottom-up) databases, respectively. The relative ranking of foods was also consistent across all three databases. For example, the relative contribution of total CO2-eq (% range for the three databases) was highest for red meat (39–51%), followed by dairy (10–17%) and beverages (9–13%). The contribution from plant-based foods (6–10%), seafood (4–11%), and poultry/eggs (<5%) was modest. The dietary habits of most participants (86%) were outside the ranges for meat and dairy consumption as set by the three sustainable diets. However, participants reporting consumption within the ranges for meat and dairy had mean GHG emissions ranging between 4.2 and 4.7 kg CO2-eq/day, depending on the diet. In comparison, the mean for participants not adhering to the sustainable diets was 7.7 kg CO2-eq/day. These results are higher than those reported in other Nordic and European studies, likely due to high consumption of lamb, beef, and dairy, and low consumption of plant-based food. Conclusion: All three LCA databases provided similar estimates for total dietary GHG emissions and relative ranking of different food groups. Based on current dietary habits in Iceland, adherence to environmentally sustainable diets would lead to a substantial reduction in dietary GHG emissions.

Food production and consumption need to substantially change to meet global environmental and public health goals. Increasing grain legume consumption in most countries is key to providing nourishing food for all while contributing to cropping system sustainability with relatively low environmental impact. But what actions have the potential to increase such consumption? The wide knowledge of how to cultivate grain legumes among Swedish farmers, low current consumption in most of the population, and prior shifts in dietary patterns make Sweden an interesting context for studying the potential increase of grain legumes in diets. We identify system-level actions in peer-reviewed and grey literature with the potential to increase grain legume consumption and apply the leverage points framework to evaluate the transformative potential of these actions for the food system in Sweden. Our findings show that most actions suggested in the literature so far focus on increased production, while fewer suggestions integrate production and consumption. Few actions address the deeper leverage points with most transformative potential compared with those with less transformative potential. We qualitatively analyze the actions and develop a chain of leverage illustrating how several actions together could be combined to support change at the deepest leverage point, creating social norms for the consumption of healthy foods. The chain includes developing new tools, facilities and products; changing standards; building feedback loops; changing the food environment; building new information flows between actors; and reforming the value chain. To implement the actions identified in this analysis, a range of value chain actors and supportive policies at the national and European Union levels will be needed.

Plant-based alternatives (PBAs) are increasingly becoming part of diets. Here, we investigate the environmental, nutritional, and economic implications of replacing animal-source foods (ASFs) with PBAs or whole foods (WFs) in the Swedish diet. Utilising two functional units (mass and energy), we model vegan, vegetarian, and flexitarian scenarios, each based on PBAs or WFs. Our results demonstrate that PBA-rich diets substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions (30–52%), land use (20–45%), and freshwater use (14–27%), with the vegan diet showing the highest reduction potential. We observe comparable environmental benefits when ASFs are replaced with WFs, underscoring the need to reduce ASF consumption. PBA scenarios meet most Nordic Nutrition Recommendations, except for vitamin B12, vitamin D and selenium, while enhancing iron, magnesium, folate, and fibre supply and decreasing saturated fat. Daily food expenditure slightly increases in the PBA scenarios (3–5%) and decreases in the WF scenarios (4–17%), with PBA diets being 10–20% more expensive than WF diets. Here we show, that replacing ASFs with PBAs can reduce the environmental impact of current Swedish diets while meeting most nutritional recommendations, but slightly increases food expenditure. We recommend prioritising ASF reduction and diversifying WFs and healthier PBAs to accommodate diverse consumer preferences during dietary transitions.

In an analysis of food system sustainability challenges and solutions among Swedish food system actors using Q-methodology, five perspectives were identified. One of the main three perspectives placed the highest priority on reduced meat consumption, food waste, and climate impact in agriculture, but downplayed strategies highlighted in the national food strategy and social aspects, and can be interpreted as a diagnostic climate mitigation-oriented perspective that does not reflect current negotiated policy processes or ‘softer’ values of food. In an alternative regenerative perspective, industrialized large-scale farming and lack of internalization of external costs were regarded as the main problems, and diversity, soil health, and organic farming as the main solutions. Proponents of a third perspective regarded phasing out fossil fuels, increased profitability of companies, increased meat production, and self-sufficiency as high priorities. These contrasting views can be a major barrier to transforming the Swedish food system. However, a number of entry points for change (i.e. aspects highly important for some and neutral for others) were identified, including focusing on healthy diets and increased production of fruit and vegetables. Focusing on these can build trust among stakeholders before moving to discussions about the larger and more sensitive systemic changes needed.

Dietary guidelines are a primary tool for promoting healthier and more sustainable diets. Despite several examples of dietary guidelines that consider - to various degrees - aspects of environmental sustainability, there is currently no framework that systematically incorporates environmental sustainability as a primary consideration. We present a five-step framework for developing environmentally sustainable dietary guidelines that would simultaneously meet nutritional requirements while staying within environmental boundaries. The steps comprise: 1) determining an average healthy diet for different population groups and criteria for healthy diets; 2) identifying relevant environmental aspects and establishing corresponding boundaries; 3) identifying systemic effects and crucial sustainability aspects; 4) altering the average diet to meet environmental goals and resolve trade-offs between environmental and nutritional goals; and 5) formulating sustainable food-based dietary guidelines. To exemplify the framework, we pilot it in the Swedish context, but it could be utilised for any other country.

In the EU, including Sweden, organic farming is seen as a promising pathway for sustainable production, protecting human health and animal welfare, and conserving the environment. Despite positive developments in recent decades, expanding organic farming to the Swedish national target of 30% of farmland under organic production remains challenging. In this study, we developed two scenarios to evaluate the role of organic farming in the broader context of Swedish food systems: (i) baseline trend scenario (Base), and (ii) sustainable food system scenario (Sust). Base describes a future where organic farming is implemented alongside the current consumption, production and waste patterns, while Sust describes a future where organic farming is implemented alongside a range of sustainable food system initiatives. These scenarios are coupled with several variants of organic area: (i) current 20% organic area, (ii) the national target of 30% organic area by 2030, and (iii) 50% organic area by 2050 for Sust. We applied the ‘FABLE (Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-use and Energy) Calculator’ to assess the evolution of the Swedish food system from 2000 to 2050 and evaluate land use, emissions and self-sufficiency impacts under these scenarios. Our findings show that expanding organic farming in the Base scenarios increases the use of cropland and agricultural emissions by 2050 compared to the 2010 reference year. However, cropland use and emissions are reduced in the Sust scenario, due to dietary changes, reduction of food waste and improved agricultural productivity. This implies that there is room for organic farming and the benefits it provides, e.g. the use of fewer inputs and improved animal welfare in a sustainable food system. However, changing towards organic agriculture is only of advantage when combined with transformative strategies to promote environmental sustainability across multiple sections, such as changed consumption, better production and food waste practices.

Despite the growing knowledge that food system solutions should account for interactions and drivers across scales, broader societal debate on how to solve food system challenges is often focused on two dichotomous perspectives and associated solutions: either more localized food systems or greater global coordination of food systems. The debate has found problematic expressions in contemporary challenges, prompting us to revisit the role that resilience thinking can play when faced with complex crises that increase uncertainty. Here we identify four ‘aching points’ facing food systems that are central points of tension in the local–global debate. We apply the seven principles of resilience to these aching points to reframe the solution space to one that embeds resilience into food systems’ management and governance at all scales, supporting transformative change towards sustainable food systems.

Food system technologies (FSTs) are being developed to accelerate the transformation towards sustainable food systems. Here we conducted a systematic scoping review that accounts for multiple dimensions of sustainability to describe the extent, range and nature of peer-reviewed literature that assesses the sustainability performance of four FSTs: plant-based alternatives, vertical farming, food deliveries and blockchain technology. Included literature had a dominant focus on environmental sustainability and less on public health and socio-economic sustainability. Gaps in the literature include empirical assessments on the sustainability of blockchain technology, plant-based seafood alternatives, public health consequences of food deliveries and socio-economic consequences of vertical farming. The development of a holistic sustainability assessment framework that demonstrates the impact of deploying FSTs is needed to guide investments in and the development of sustainable food innovation. Gaps in the literature include empirical sustainability assessments of blockchain technology and plant-based seafood alternatives, public health consequences of food deliveries and socio-economic consequences of vertical farming.