•Development of a European indicator of risk of farmland abandonment.•Suitability evaluation of EU-wide data sources for identifying regions at risk.•Analysis of drivers of farm stability and ...viability, and from the regional context.•Remoteness, low income and dynamism, ageing farmers, weak land market increase the risk.•Regions with higher risk are the Mediterranean, Baltic, Scandinavian countries.
Accounting for more than half of the European Union’s (EU) territory, agriculture ensures food production, manages important natural resources and supports socio-economic development of rural areas. Moreover, it is estimated that 50% of all plant and animal species (including some of that are listed in the EU Habitat Directive) depend on agricultural practices. The continuation of appropriate agricultural land management is essential to ensure these primary functions. Avoidance of farmland abandonment is therefore an important rationale for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy which requires improved knowledge of this phenomenon at the European level. This study assesses the risk of farmland abandonment in the 27 EU Member States. It summarizes the work performed by an expert panel of European scientists and national representatives which aimed to identify the main drivers of farmland abandonment in Europe, to define indicators for assessing its risk of occurrence and to test the value of European-wide data sources to achieve these aims. Drivers were identified under two rationales: low farm stability and viability, and negative regional context. Indicators were defined using recent socio-economic farm data and geospatial datasets. Some indicators were then combined to make a composite risk indicator. Regions with higher risk of farmland abandonment are located in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Ireland. This paper demonstrates the challenges of performing a European-wide assessment of a phenomenon influenced by drivers whose effects vary at local levels. Other problems encountered are data heterogeneity in terms of spatial resolution and quality, as well as access to micro-data (local level data). High spatial resolution European datasets measuring farmland abandonment are needed to validate the defined indicators as well as to benchmark the methodology. Furthermore, such data could be used to establish a weighting system for the drivers.
In the current context of unsustainable food systems, we aimed to develop and validate an index, the sustainable diet index (SDI), assessing the sustainability of dietary patterns, including ...multidimensional individual indicators of sustainability. Based on the FAO’s definition of sustainable diets, the SDI includes seven indicators categorised into four standardised sub-indexes, respectively, environmental, nutritional, economic and sociocultural. The index (range: 4–20) was obtained by summing the sub-indexes. We computed the SDI for 29 388 participants in the NutriNet-Santé cohort study, estimated its validity and identified potential socio-demographic or lifestyle differences across the SDI quintile. In our sample, the SDI (mean=12·10/20; 95 % CI 12·07, 12·13) was highly correlated to all the sub-indexes that exerted substantial influence on the participants’ ranking. The environmental and economical sub-indexes were the most and less correlated with the SDI (Pearson R
2 0·66 and 0·52, respectively). Dietary patterns of participants with a high SDI (considered as more sustainable) were concordant with the already published sustainable diets. Participants with high SDI scores were more often women (24 %), post-secondary graduates (22 %) and vegetarians or vegans (7 %), without obesity (16 %). Finally, the SDI could be a useful tool to easily assess the sustainability-related changes in dietary patterns, estimate the association with long-term health outcomes and help guide future public health policies.
Purpose
While intensive modern food systems have significant unfavourable impacts on health and the environment, new sustainable food consumption trends have been emerging in recent years. This study ...identified recent dietary trends over a 4-year period in terms of overall dietary patterns and organic foods consumption and associated socio-demographic determinants.
Methods
Food intakes were assessed among 18,108 participants of the NutriNet-Santé cohort in 2014 and 2018. A food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate organic and conventional food consumption. Change in food consumption, quality of the diet (assessed by the adherence to the French national guidelines), plant-based diet using published scores, organic food intake were evaluated in regard with various socio-demographic factors. The paired student
t
test to compare dietary intake and the Kruskal–Walllis test to consider socio-demographic characteristics were used.
Results
Consumption of meat and processed meat decreased respectively by 5.09 g/day (SD 51.15) and 1.12 g/day (SD 26.05). The average total consumption of organic products increased by 12% (+ 93 g/day) while consumption of organic fish and seafood (− 1.4 g/day), poultry (− 1 g/day), processed meat (− 0.3 g/day) and meat (− 3.3 g/day) decreased. The dietary towards healthier diets was more pronounced in certain population subgroups. For example, females, young individuals and postgraduate participants were more likely to increase their consumption of healthful plant and animal-based foods, organic foods and to improve the overall nutritional quality of their diets during the follow-up period than their counterparts.
Conclusion
Our results indicate a slight inflexion towards healthier and plant-based diets over a 4-year period at least in some segments of the population. A decrease in the consumption of animal products and an increase in the consumption of healthful plant-based foods and organic foods suggests a potential trend towards more sustainable diets among certain subgroups. The environmental impacts of these changes need to be assessed in further works as well as the way to sustain and improve them, in particular those who do not initiate sustainable transition.
•Little is known about dietary pesticide exposure profiles and BW change.•The lower dietary exposure to synthetic pesticides the lower weight gain in women.•The lower weight gain is observed in ...premenopausal women only.•The higher dietary exposure to a pesticide mixture the higher weight loss in men.
Pesticides cause a wide range of deleterious health effects, including metabolic disorders. Little is known about the effects of dietary pesticide exposure on body weight (BW) change in the general population.
We aimed to investigate the role of dietary pesticide exposure in BW change among NutriNet-Santé participants, focusing on potential sexual dimorphism.
Participants completed a Food Frequency Questionnaire (2014), assessing conventional and organic food consumption. Dietary exposure from plant foods of 25 commonly used pesticides was estimated using a residue database, accounting for agricultural practices (conventional and organic).
Exposure profiles based on dietary patterns were computed using Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF). Mixed models were used to estimate the associations between BW change and exposure to pesticide mixtures, overall and after stratification by sex and menopausal status.
The final sample included 32,062 participants (8,211 men, 10,637 premenopausal, and 13,214 postmenopausal women). The median (IQR) follow-up was 7.0 (4.4; 8.0) years. Four pesticides profiles were inferred.
Overall, men and postmenopausal women lost BW during follow-up, whereas premenopausal women gained BW.
Higher exposure to NMF3, reflecting a lower exposure to synthetic pesticides, was associated with a lower BW gain, especially in premenopausal women (β(95 %CI) = -0.04 (-0.07; 0) kg/year, p = 0.04).
Higher exposure to NMF2, highly positively correlated with a mixture of synthetic pesticides (azoxystrobin, boscalid, chlorpropham, cyprodinil, difenoconazole, fenhexamid, iprodione, tebuconazole, and lamda-cyhalothrin), was associated with a higher BW loss in men (β(95 %CI) = -0.05 (-0.08; −0.03) kg/year, p < 0.0001). No associations were observed for NMF1 and 4.
This study suggests a role of pesticide exposure, inferred from dietary patterns, on BW change, with sexually dimorphic actions, including a potential role of a lower exposure to synthetic pesticides on BW change in women. In men, exposure to a specific pesticide mixture was associated with higher BW loss. The underlying mechanisms need further elucidation.
We aimed to explore the relationship between socio-economic characteristics and sustainable dietary patterns.
Dietary data were derived from a web-based FFQ. Diet sustainability was evaluated using a ...modified Sustainable Diet Index, comprising nutritional, environmental and cultural components (higher scores expressing higher sustainability). The socio-economic position markers were education, household income and occupation status. Multi-adjusted linear and Poisson regression models were used to assess the cross-sectional association of the markers of socio-economic status with a sustainable diet and sustainability subcomponents, respectively.
France.
29 119 NutriNet-Santé participants.
Individuals with a more sustainable diet had slightly higher diet monetary cost, lower total energy intake and consumed less animal-based foods than their counterparts. Lower education level was associated with lower overall diet sustainability (
= -0·62, 95 % CI (-0·72, -0·51)) and nutrition, socio-cultural and environmental subscores. Manual workers and employees had a lower modified Sustainable Diet Index than intermediate professionals (
= -0·43, 95 % CI (-0·52, -0·33) and
= -0·56, 95 % CI (-0·64, -0·48)). Participants with the lowest
. highest incomes had a higher environmental subscore but a lower socio-cultural subscore, whereas the results were less marked for occupational status.
Overall, our results documented associations between socio-economic status and the level of diet sustainability, arguing for the implementation of appropriate food policies to promote sustainable diets at lower cost.
Abstract
Animal production is responsible for 56–58% of the GHG emissions and limiting meat consumption would strongly contribute to reducing human health risks in Western countries. This study aimed ...to investigate the nature of protein intake as a discriminating factor for diets’ sustainability. Using data from 29,210 French adults involved in the NutriNet-Santé cohort, we identified clusters according to 23 protein sources. A multicriteria (environmental, economic, nutritional and health) sustainability analysis was then conducted on the identified clusters. The economic analysis focused on both food and protein expenditure structures, using a budget coefficient approach. Relative values of clusters compared to the whole sample were calculated. We identified five clusters: milk-based, meat-based, fast food-based, healthy-fish-based, and healthy-plant-based. We found that the healthy-plant-based and healthy-fish-based clusters were the most sustainable, conciliating the compromise between human health (0.25 and 0.53 respectively for the Health Risk Score) and the protection of the environment (− 62% and − 19% respectively for the pReCiPe indicator). Conversely, the highest environmental impacts (+ 33% for the pReCiPe indicator) and the highest health risk (0.95 for the HRS) were observed for the meat-based cluster, which was associated with the lowest nutritional scores (− 61% for the PNNS-GS2 score). The economic analysis showed that the healthy-plant-based cluster was the one with the highest food budget coefficient (+ 46%), followed by the healthy-fish-based cluster (+ 8%), partly explained by a strong share of organic food in the diet. However, the meat-based cluster spent more of their food budget on their protein intake (+ 13%), while the healthy-plant-based cluster exhibited the lowest expenditure for this intake (− 41%). Our results demonstrate that the nature of protein intake is a discriminating factor in diet sustainability. Also, reducing animal protein consumption would generate co-benefits beyond environmental impacts, by being favorable for health, while reducing the monetary cost associated with protein intake.
To ensure a sustainable development, it is essential to better characterize the relationships between diet sustainability and health. We investigated the associations between sustainable dietary ...patterns, assessed using the Sustainable Diet Index (SDI) and the risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases in a large prospective cohort of French volunteers. We computed the SDI among 25,592 participants of the NutriNet-Santé cohort using a database developed within the BioNutriNet project comprising nutritional, behavioral, environmental and economic data. Health status of each participant was collected from 2014 to 2018 and validated by physicians. Associations between the SDI and risk of chronic diseases (cancer and cardiovascular diseases) were assessed using multivariable Cox models. 640 incident chronic diseases occurred during the 3.8-year follow-up (483 cancer cases and 158 cardiovascular disease cases). A higher SDI was associated with a lower risk of overall chronic diseases after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Participants in the fourth quartile, reflecting the highest sustainable dietary patterns, exhibited a significant decrease in risk of cancers or cardiovascular diseases (HR
Q4 vs. Q1
= 0.61 (95% CI 0.47–0.80),
P
-trend = 0.0002). More specifically, this association was observed for cancers in the fully adjusted model but was not statistically significant for cardiovascular diseases. Although these results need to be confirmed by other observational studies, they support the fact that a wide adoption of sustainable dietary patterns may contribute to improving global health in France and argue for existing dietary patterns exhibiting cobenefits for human health and the environment.
Abstract
Diets rich in plant-based foods are encouraged for human health and to preserve resources and the environment but the nutritional quality and safety of such diets is debated. This study ...aimed to model nutritionally adequate diets with increasing plant food content and to characterise the derived diets using a multicriteria approach including, nutrients intake, environmental pressures and exposure to pesticides. Using data of the NutriNet-Santé cohort (N = 29,413), we implemented stepwise optimization models to identified maximum plant-food content under nutritional constraints. Environmental indicators at the production level were derived from the DIALECTE database, and exposure to pesticide residues from plant food consumption was estimated using a contamination database. Plant-based foods contributed to 64.3% (SD = 10.6%) of energy intake in observed diets and may reach up to 95% in modelled diets without jeopardizing nutritional status. Compared to the observed situation, an increase in plant-based foods in the diets led to increases in soy-based products (+ 480%), dried fruits (+ 370%), legumes (+ 317%), whole grains (+ 251%), oils (+ 144%) and vegetables (+ 93%). Animal products decreased progressively until total eviction, except for beef (− 98%). Dietary quality (estimated using the Diet Quality Index Based on the Probability of Adequate Nutrient Intake) was improved (up to 17%) as well as GHGe (up to − 65%), energy demand (up to − 48%), and land occupation (− 56%) for production. Exposures to pesticides from plant-based foods were increased by 100% conventional production and to a much lesser extent by 100% organic production. This study shows that shifting to nutritionally-adequate plant-based diets requires an in-depth rearrangement of food groups’ consumption but allows a drastic reduction environmental impact. Increase exposure to pesticide residues and related risks can be mitigated by consuming foods produced with low pesticide input.
Studies investigating diet-related environmental impacts have rarely considered the production method of the foods consumed. The objective of the present study, based on the NutriNet-Santé cohort, ...was to investigate the relationship between a provegetarian score and diet-related environmental impacts. We also evaluated potential effect modifications on the association between a provegetarian score and the environmental impacts of organic food consumption.
Food intake and organic food consumption ratios were obtained from 34,442 French adults using a food frequency questionnaire, which included information on organic food consumption for each group. To characterize the overall structure of the diets, a provegetarian score was used to identify preferences for plant-based products as opposed to animal-based products. Moreover, three environmental indicators were used to assess diet-related environmental impacts: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cumulative energy demand (CED), and land occupation. Environmental impacts were assessed using production life cycle assessment (LCA) at the farm level. Associations between provegetarian score quintiles, the level of organic food consumption, and environmental indicators were analyzed using ANCOVAs adjusted for energy, sex, and age.
Participants with diets rich in plant-based foods (fifth quintile) were more likely to be older urban dwellers, to hold a higher degree in education, and to be characterized by an overall healthier lifestyle and diet. A higher provegetarian score was associated with lower environmental impacts (GHG emissions
= 838/1,664 kg CO
/year, -49.6%,
< 0.0001; CED
= 4,853/6,775 MJ/year, -26.9%,
< 0.0001; land occupation
= 2,420/4,138 m
/year, -41.5%,
< 0.0001). Organic food consumption was also an important modulator of the relationship between provegetarian dietary patterns and environmental impacts but only among participants with diets rich in plant-based products.
Future field studies should endeavor to integrate all the components of a sustainable diet, i.e., both diet composition and production methods.
► Biotic homogenization is observed in French agroecosystems. ► In High Nature Value farmland this phenomenon is potentially refrained. ► Farmland Bird Indicator trends remain high in recent non High ...Nature Value farmlands.
High Nature Value (HNV) farmlands are expected to support high levels of biological diversity and may have a relevant role in driving biodiversity dynamics and particularly refraining biotic homogenization. The present study tests this hypothesis by examining whether spatial and temporal variations in contemporary composition and dynamics of bird communities are related to past changes in HNV farmland within a 30-year period. Analyses of three farmland types were made in areas of (1) highly intensified agriculture, (2) relatively recent agriculture intensification and (3) low-intensity agriculture identified as HNV farmlands. French farmland in its whole is currently subjected to biotic homogenization processes. However, no homogenization was observed in HNV farmland, potentially indicating that those areas were not affected – or at least not at the same pace as elsewhere – by biotic homogenization. Farmland species population trends remain high in recent non-HNV farmlands, indicating that some non-HNV areas may still contribute in refraining farmland biodiversity decline. Future conservation focus should be given in priority in HNV farmland, but also in areas of recent agriculture intensification, to buffer further negative effects on population and community dynamics.
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