Nutrition ecology - nutrition ecology - is a relatively new term. It was coined in 1986 by a group of nutritionists at the University of Giessen, Germany. It is an inter-disciplinary science, which examines all components of the food chain and assesses the effects according to 4 main points of view: human health, the environment, society and the economy.
The components of the food chain are all those involved in the process production and consumption of food, that is followed throughout the proceedings "from cradle to grave", which includes: the production, harvesting, preservation, storage, transportation, processing, packaging, marketing, distribution , preparation, composition, food consumption and disposal of waste materials produced at various stages.
The concept of nutrition ecology has ancient roots, and was born with the need to assess the consequences of large-scale agriculture and animal husbandry. But it is only in the late twentieth century that the concept of nutrition ecology is formalized. Not to be confused with the ' econutrizione , which is limited to studying the interaction between nutrition and the environment, nor with the' Ecology of Food and Nutrition , that simply studying the dietary habits of indigenous peoples.
Sustainability
The above 4 dimensions of nutrition ecology are the basis for assessing the sustainability of uno stile alimentare. Il termine sostenibilità è stato coniato nel diciassettesimo secolo dagli esperti forestali tedeschi per indicare la quantità di alberi che poteva essere abbattuta in maniera sostenibile, cioè solo quella che sarebbe potuta ricrescere in un tempo accettabile.
Il significato si è poi esteso a indicare un tipo di sviluppo che soddisfa le necessità correnti senza diminuire la possibilità per le generazioni future di soddisfare le stesse necessità.
Dal punto di vista della nutrizione, la sostenibilità implies the adoption of a lifestyle that includes:
- equitable distribution of food resources, in a world that has over 800 million malnourished people - the social aspect;
- the choice of a quality and quantity of food to ensure a proper diet (with no gaps) and optimum (which may prevent food-related degenerative diseases, typical of rich countries) - health aspect;
- sustainable impact on the environment - ecological aspect.
Sicurezza alimentare
Quando si parla di "sicurezza alimentare", nei paesi industrializzati, si pensa soltanto alla qualità del cibo intesa come contenuto nutrizionale e come controlli sanitari sulla presenza di patogeni e contaminanti. Anche la recente Authority Alimentare europea, che dovrebbe garantire la sicurezza alimentare ai consumatori, si occupa solamente di quest'ultimo aspetto sanitario, ma solo a breve e brevissimo termine, trascurando invece gli aspetti ben più importanti e complessi di medio e lungo termine quali appunto la salute umana a lungo termine, l'impatto sull'ambiente e sulla società intera, in breve, la sostenibilità.
È dunque importante dedicare l'attenzione che meritano agli aspetti di cui l'ecologia della nutrizione si occupa: la qualità globale del cibo, il Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), cioè il calcolo dell'impatto lungo tutto il ciclo di produzione del cibo e dello smaltimento degli scarti (impatto sulla salute e sull'ambiente), ma anche l'influenza degli stili alimentari sul clima, sulla nutrizione nel mondo (e quindi anche sul problema della fame nel mondo), sui costi del cibo, sia in termini monetari che di consumo di risorse.
Research and dissemination
Ecology of nutrition provides the tools to compare the different dietary habits, as well as the processes to identify the best ways to follow.
NEIC arises, therefore, aims to study the ecology of nutrition issues and disseminate scientific knowledge in this field at all levels: at the level of national governments and supranational institutions at the level of NGOs operating in the world at the level of consumer groups, to get to the end individual citizens, because food choices do not depend solely on government, but in large part from their individual choices of people who have, in this field, great power and also, therefore, great responsibility.
then appear basic education interventions of the population, acts to "change the attitude of society towards consumption and individual behavior", as per a or requirement of the same EC program. Educating people to eat differently, focusing on simple foods and vegetable nature, you can safeguard the health of the community and the health of the planet.
A brief overview of the current problems
The animal breeding, which is considered as a machine that turns plant resources in animals, is completely ineffective. It is called the conversion rate as the amount of kilograms of plant needed to increase the weight of a kg on average, a cow, it takes 11 kg of vegetables to grow one kilogram of the animal counting slaughter waste, 15 kg of vegetables used to produce 1 kg of meat. By comparison with proteins, rather than the weight of the plants, the results are similar: to produce one kg of animal protein are 16 kg of vegetable protein. For this farm animals are called "protein factories down."
This waste of resources because, in addition to obvious social problems (unequal distribution of resources), even serious environmental impacts.
Among the impacts on the environment, one of the biggest problems is the water consumption. Most of the water on the planet is consumed by:
- obtain forage production determinants in satisfying hunger and in maintaining the activity of the ruminant stomach;
- to quench the animals;
- for cleaning stables, milking parlors and more.
The Executive Director of the Stockholm International Water Institute said at the conference: "Animals fed on grain, and even those on grazing need more water much more than the crops grain. But in developed countries, and in some developing countries, consumers are demanding more meat. \u0026lt;...> Sarà quasi impossibile nutrire le future generazioni con lo stesso tipo di dieta che oggi abbiamo in Europa occidentale e nel Nord America." Ha aggiunto che i ricchi saranno comunque in grado di comprarsi una via d'uscita importando "acqua virtuale", cioè importando cibo (mangimi per animali o carne) da altri paesi, anche quelli in deficit d'acqua. [Hungry world 'must eat less meat', by Alex Kirby, BBC News Online environment correspondent, August 15, 2004]
Nella foresta amazzonica, l'88% della foresta abbattuta è stata adibita a pascolo. E la deforestazione continua a un ritmo sempre crescente. Nel 2003 c'è stata una crescita del 40% della deforestazione rispetto all'anno previous year. In just 10 years, the region lost an area equal to two times Portugal. Much of it has become grazing land. The cutting of wood for the market are much less influential on deforestation than meat production. [D. Kaimowitz, B. Mertens, S. Wunder, P. Pacheco Hamburger Connection Fuels Amazon Destruction, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), April 2003]
In semi-arid areas, such as Africa, the use of land for extensive farming (whose products are exported to rich countries) leads to desertification, namely the reduction to zero of the productivity of these lands. The United Nations estimates that 70% of the land now used for grazing are in the process of desertification.
This kind of eating habits are the cause of a dual problem of malnutrition in poor countries malnutrition due to lack of food and water in rich countries malnutrition caused by excess protein and animal fat, which is today among the leading causes of death.
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