Researchers from all over the world, including researchers from Tel Aviv University, unanimously recommend: integrate foods from water into food systems
A first international report of its kind, compiled by over 100 leading scientists from 25 universities and research institutes such as Stanford, Stockholm and Tel Aviv universities, examined the great contribution of aquatic foods to nutrition, livelihoods and ecosystems, and their integration into the global food system. The results of the new report, produced at the initiative of the organization Blue Food Assessment, were published in five different articles in the prestigious journal Nature. In the first two publications out of the five, Dr. Alon Shpon from the Porter School of Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University and chairman of the Israeli Forum for Sustainable Nutrition, was among the leading researchers of the study.
"The new report is a collection of studies that have accumulated together into global and far-reaching insights, which will be presented at the launch event of the Blue Food Assessment," explains Dr. Alon Shpon. "Until now, aquatic foods have almost always been absent from the discourse surrounding sustainable food systems. The report finds that 'blue food', meaning food from aquatic sources such as algae, seafood and fish, can lead to an important health contribution with a reduced environmental cost compared to other animal foods."
Health and environmental contribution
"Poor nutrition is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world," says Dr. Shapon. "Foods from water have a lot to contribute in terms of health and environment among poor countries and disadvantaged populations, and also among developed countries such as Israel. Foods from the water are rich in a large variety of nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, omega 3 fatty acid and more, compared to terrestrial animal protein sources. In addition, the environmental price of foods from the water, especially seaweed, oysters and sardines, is even lower than that of chicken meat - and certainly lower than the environmental price of growing beef."
The report finds that in poor countries and disadvantaged populations, a small addition of foods from the sea, such as seaweed, shellfish and fish, can make a significant contribution to nutritional security and the health of the population, and in developed countries such as Israel, where the consumption of meat (chicken and beef) is one of the highest in the world, a replacement of Animal protein in foods from water will also significantly improve human health, and also reduce the environmental impact. "We found that a modest global increase of 8% in the consumption of foods from water beyond the production base in 2030, will lead to the reduction of the nutritional deficiencies of 166 million people worldwide - and will also reduce the environmental cost of consuming terrestrial animal proteins," adds Dr. Shpon.
"Until now, there have been very few assessments, most of them partial, regarding the environmental impact of growing food from the sea, and there has not been a comprehensive analysis that compares all these types of food in a uniform way," concludes Dr. Shpon. "We provided for the first time an overall picture of the environmental impact of growing about three quarters of all these foods, and we saw that the environmental price of growing algae and oysters is the lowest among all aquatic foods, and this adds to the insight that plant foods - also on land - have the environmental impact the lowest. The State of Israel also needs to build a vision of food from water and be based on the tremendous knowledge that exists here for the benefit of man and the environment. As a desert country, our fresh water sources are limited, so aquaculture needs to focus on the sea. We need to leverage the tremendous knowledge and research that is being done here in the field of algae and develop plant-based aquaculture, because they are foods with the lowest environmental impact and nutritionally rich, and it is desirable that they be a substitute for the high local consumption of animal foods."
More of the topic in Hayadan:
7 תגובות
With age we are like a garden..each time something grows..the reason can be at the physical level sometimes at the mental level and in my opinion also a higher reason, at the level of the soul..developments that have not reached a full and complete loving exhaustion.
Shlomo Hani medicine
Oysters are also animals.
Clams? It is not possible that the salvation of the world involves non-kosher food!
to me:
"So maybe it's not worth giving up fatty and sweet food?" – or learn some basic concepts in probability and statistics.
2 Points:
1. Enough with the terminology disadvantaged populations. There is such a thing, but not every poor population is disadvantaged.
2. Food from the sea, insects, efficient harvesting of energy from renewable sources - all these promote man to support his population explosion. I'm not saying yes or no. I'm just saying that anyone who thinks this is what will save our planet and humanity is absolutely wrong. We all flow in the carbon cycle. Sometimes as part of a living body and sometimes not. The system is relatively closed and a few hydrogen bombs here and there will not fundamentally change it. With or without man - the carbon cycle flows
Until I reached the respectable age of 66, I lived according to the doctors' instructions and was "the healthiest of all". I didn't smoke, I ate right and little, I played sports and all the indicators were ideal. While spending time with the grandchildren in the Dead Sea, I started having chest pains. I walked around with them for two weeks until the hospital wanted to catheterize me and add stents to my body. No one could say why. Another stent was added months ago. Despite the medication I've been taking ever since. The only answer I get from the doctors, who are unable to give an answer about the causes of the difficulties - it is genetic. So maybe it's not worth giving up fatty and sweet food?