In previous posts, we reviewed the connection between the environment and nutrition. Importantly, we established that nutrition and the environment are interlinked-various environmental factors affect diet , food and water availability and overall health. We recognized that environmental changes are prone to interfere with food and water security. Environmental nutrition seeks to explain the inter-relationship between the environment and nutrition and how they impact human health, and the potential resolutions that can address arising challenges. It seeks a more collective approach rather than an individualized one to mitigate potential challenges.
Food systems have increasingly become complicated since recent times. The expansion of food system components including retailing, manufacturing, packaging etc have significantly increased the environmental costs of producing food. This alongside the utilization of fossil fuels to manufacture food and other items, has contributed to increased quantities of gas emissions into the environment , and this has exacerbated food insecurity on a large scale. Moreover, as food advances through the food systems phases , it undergoes nutrient losses which can be severe rendering limited access to adequate nutrients to its consumers.
Climate change resulting from the increasing release of gasses into the atmosphere, deforestation etc, has caused substantial decreases in food production in various localities, increased the transmission of infectious diseases and posed significant threats to food security. Carbon emissions accumulate in the atmosphere prevent adequate sunlight form reaching crops, in turn affecting food production.
The excess usage of synthetic fertilizers is a contributor to soil toxicity, ad consequently reduced yields. The spill-off from them can enter water bodies causing contamination and increasing the risk to adverse health outcomes when consumed.The organisms in the water i.e. fish may also be affected. Over time , through bio-accumulation they may contain massive amounts of chemicals in them including heavy metals and fertilizer ingredients, that can be transferred higher in the food chain through the bio-magnification process causing health challenges for humans and other organisms in the food chain.
Land use changes resulting from urbanization, deforestation and migration have promoted an immense impacts on bio-diversity loss which has led to further food and nutrition insecurity. Human exposure to environmental pollutants has increased the risk to adverse health outcomes.
The interlink between nutrition and the environment suggest the need to work collaboratively in tackling potential challenges. We should promote effective environmental conservation measures and take responsibility to implement them accordingly.