June 2014 Question #3
What are some perceived barriers in achieving a sustainable healthy diet?
posted by Sammy Barbier @ 3:34 PM
14 comments
ISU Dietetic Internship Journal Club
Objective: To become familiar with current scientific literature on a variety of nutrition topics and to gain experience in gathering, organizing, critically evaluating, presenting and facilitating group discussion of the literature and the implications to practice.
14 Comments:
I think there are many barriers to achieving a sustainable healthy diet, not the least of which is societal norms and expectations. It can be hard, although not impossible, to have a radically different diet than other people you are associated with. We tend to focus our social interactions around meals, "let's have our meeting over lunch", "let's meet over coffee and a bagel", etc. So if you have dietary restrictions, say you are a vegan, and you're asked to meet business partners at a steak house...that could be problematic.
As I mentioned before in one of my other posts, Americans also tend to really focus on the meat component of our meals, that's the focal point. So changing this up and not having meat, or any other animal products, may be a lot different from what they're used to, which can put undue stress on the client and thus acts as a barrier to success. Perhaps a slow transition is warranted, whereby one "weans" off meat or animal products and assesses the feasibility of the diet as well as how satisfying the diet is.
It may sound barbaric, but I crave meat. I don't honestly know that I've ever went an entire day without consuming at least one serving of meat. Everyone has a different lifestyle, as well as different tastes, so it's different for everyone.
However, as a dietitian, it's our job to understand that others are different than us and also to have the ability to knock down individual barriers by understanding the obstacles one may face and finding ways around them.
Cost may also be prohibitive to some. While fruits and vegetables definitely aren't the most expensive foods at the store, large quantities can add up fast. So, using coupons, buying in bulk, purchasing at farmers markets, using community gardens or even having your own personal sustainable garden are all great options for helping to ensure that your diet is sustainable and healthy all the same.
Having your own garden can be especially environmentally friendly because you are eliminating transportation, packaging etc!
I think that people in general struggle with the idea of sustainability because they don't truly understand the meaning and purpose behind it. People may be afraid to admit that they don't understand it or research it so they may just assume one way or the other. I think it will just take time to become "trendy".
I think Arthur is right though, we are all different and unless you are really into the idea you will probably struggle to wrap your mind around the concept of no meat or a total diet overhaul.
Weather and climate have a large impact on whether or not you can have a garden or farm. Local produce may not be available in the area or are very expensive depending on where you live. A way to avoid this barrier is buy during season and freeze it or start a greenhouse with food items you can grow.
Many restaurants are now offering types of vegetarian dishes and people are generally understanding when it comes to not eating meat.
Researching menus before social events or simply asking if they can accommodate your needs usually does the trick. Being open with the people you dine with will make them more aware of your needs and you can work together to find foods everyone can enjoy.
Working in foodservice and having many Hindu customers has made me very aware of how to find strict vegetarian dishes and how to accommodate needs easily by making small changes to dishes.
Buy local! Finding out when the farmers market is in town is a great sustainable activity.
Many people think that eating healthy and sustainable foods can be costly, which would inhibit them from making those choices. I think that educating the client on how to plan, shop, and prepare meals will be very important for this cause. I think that the chocies they make in the grocery stores and at restaurant is important. Every dollar we spend is basically a vote for the food choices we make. We can choose to support fast food or we can choose to support healthy foods. Each dollar makes a difference because they all add up in the end. I think it's important to get the word out on where to even buy sustainable healthy foods would be important. Farmers markets are great because they're usually local and smaller farms that have better practices, but that's also soemthing you can discuss with the farmers if you're not sure. I think some people don't have proper transportation to get them to the healthy foods or to food in general so they eat what they can get their hands on. This would be important for city mangagers to ensure that their city has the necessary means to eat healthy, this includes having grocery stores in shorter distances to homes.
One way to be sustainable is to support local farmers, but this can be pricey. A lot of people struggle even to buy food to cook at home from the grocery store because it is expensive, and asking these people to also consider the sustainability of their food would be too much to ask. We all are on a budget, and when it comes to feeding your family, most people will tend to choose the food that gives them the most quantity for their dollar. However, these are rarely the sustainable options. Educating people to buy produce in season, shopping at their local farmers market when possible, and considering alternate protein sources (meat can be very expensive!) are some ways to help support sustainable living and may be budget-friendly for them.
I, too, think that cost is one of the biggest perceived barriers to sustainable healthy eating. I like that the research article included cost as one of the dimensions of sustainable eating because it's a very important aspect. I love how Tina described every dollar spent as a vote for food choices. I think emphasizing that small changes do add up and you can make a difference. I once heard someone say "you may just be a drop in a bucket, but if there's enough drops in the bucket, the bucket will soon be overflowing," and I think that this saying can be applied to people doing their part, however small, to making a difference.
As Jessica said, people don't really understand what sustainability is and how to achieve it. Even the "experts" have disagreements about what is truly sustainable. For example, many people believe that organic farming is more sustainable than conventional farming. But that may depend on the procedure each farmer uses, and not whether they are labeled organic or not. Some conventional farmers use sustainable practices but cannot afford to or do not choose to become certified as organic. Some organic farmers may take advantage of loopholes in the regulations to decrease their production costs by using non-sustainable practices. Sustainability is a very complicated subject, and unless it is a personal interest, most people won't take the time to learn about it.
Jeanne is absolutely right about people not taking the time to learn about sustainability if it's not something that they're interested in. Also, I think people don't realize how our farming practices now will affect future generations, and it's kind of an "ignorance is bliss" situation for some people.
As many have already mentioned, I would say cost is a large barrier to achieving a sustainable healthy diet. Humanely raised meats and organic produce is typically more expensive than conventionally produced food.
Another barrier may simply be the availability of sustainable foods. Since the trend in sustainable foods is relatively new within the past several years, fewer infrastructures are in place. Sustainable foods may be more difficult to obtain since they are usually sold at farmers markets or smaller operations. Farmers markets may only be open once a week for a few hours, whereas going to a 24 hour Wal-Mart supercenter at any time is much more convenient. Buying sustainable foods also takes effort and planning, and many Americans probably don’t want to spend the time or go out of their way to be sustainable. People just get into habits, and many may not want to change the food that they purchase.
I think Arthur brought up a great point about societal norms being barriers to adopting a sustainable healthy diet. In America we do focus a lot on food, and we also worry a lot about fitting in and what others think of us. Trying to adopt a sustainable healthy diet may be much more difficult if everyone around you is not doing the same or they don't support you.
I really like Susan's suggestions regarding what those on a tight(er) budget can do to maintain a healthful, sustainable, diet. Like most of you, I also believe that cost is a large barrier to sustainable eating. Susan made a really good point that it can be difficult enough to get clients to focus on purchasing fruits and vegetables, much less ensuring, or recommending, that they buy "environmentally sustainable" foods. If the client makes it a point to bring up organic or environmentally sustainable options, then yes sure, that can be a good path to go down, but if they are the type of client who thinks a pear is two of something, it may not be the best idea to throw around a bunch of information about how to buy sustainably sourced foods when what they really need is to just buy some fruits and vegetables to see what they like to eat first and foremost.
It depends on what we're promoting. If we are promoting a plant-based diet according to the foods that scored highly in the study, then the barriers might be things like being uneducated about how to prepare fruits and vegetables. If we are promoting that the plant-based diet come only from sustainable farms, we still have the lack of cooking education with an even higher cost barrier. Resistance to behavior changes will definitely be a barrier. Getting someone to eat less meat simply using the sustainability argument is no easy task. We can have a hard time getting people to change their habits when they are prediabetic or morbidly obese, let alone convincing them they need to reconsider their diet for the benefits of others on the planet!
I agree with Brady's points about the lack of cooking education and resistance to behavior change, Arthur's point about societal norms and Susan's comment about educating people about buying seasonal produce to reduce the cost. Most people are going to be affected by at least one of these, and some people may be affected by all of them. The more barriers a person has to overcome, the more difficult it is to get them to make a change, whether it's for health reasons or sustainability reasons.
Haley makes a good point on location having an impact on one's ability to eat sustainably. I grew up in a small town that just got their first farmer's market a few years ago, and even then the amount of local produce at the market was limited. Again, good point with suggesting that people grow their own food. While not a solution for inner city, low-income families, it is still a great solution for more rural families who have the outdoor space to pull it off.
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