By Ellen Linnéa Henricson, LLM Student International Human Rights Law, e.l.henricson student.rug.nl

Despite ranking highly in international comparisons of health, welfare and well-being, Nordic countries fall short of ensuring effective regulation and viable policy development in the areas of dietary patterns and sustainable development. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden (https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/disease-prevention/nutrition/news/news/2021/10/making-diets-environmentally-friendly-nordic-countries-lead-the-way) all fail to meet both the World Health Organization recommendations on healthy diets (WHO recommendations) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Healthy, sustainable, and equitable food systems would improve health and achieve progress on all SDGs. Instead, the food system currently in place contributes substantially to climate change, biodiversity loss, and depletion of natural resources.

To change that, more attention must be paid to how food systems interact with various aspects of human and planetary health. Looking at what is consumed, where and how food is produced, how much of it ends up as waste, and why that happens can bring about change for the better. The updated Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR2022), to be published this year, take a step in the right direction by for the first time incorporating environmental sustainability as an essential aspect of healthy food habits. The NNR are the result of regional collaboration between universities and governmental research institutions, commissioned by the Nordic Council of Ministers. Since 1980 they constitute the scientific basis for national nutrient recommendations, dietary education, and health promotion. Regular revision ensures that the NNR continue to reflect the latest scientific insights.

The inseparability of nutrition, human and planetary health

Under article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), each person has a right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has in its General Comment No 14 clarified that this right extends to underlying determinants of health, including an adequate supply of safe food and proper nutrition. Taken together with article 11 ICESCR, which confirms that the right to an adequate standard of living includes adequate food and freedom from hunger, this lays the foundation for framing healthy diets as a human rights issue. Articles 24 and 27 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) repeat the ICESCR formulation of these rights and the obligation to provide adequate, nutritious food.

Hence, there can be no doubt that the right to health and the right to adequate nutrition do include the right to healthy food. Still, current diets are a larger cause of morbidity and mortality than unsafe sex, alcohol, drug- and tobacco use combined. We are simply not eating healthy food. As a result, globally 821 million people are undernourished, while 2 billion adults are overweight or obese.

 Where food is concerned, article 24 CRC states that the risks of environmental pollution must be considered. This entails, according to the relevant  General Comment an obligation to address climate change. Closely related factors such as air pollution, agricultural practices, and built environments also have a direct correlation with health; 24% of global deaths are attributable to changeable environmental factors and over 21% of all greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to the food system.

Change of perspective: from individual choices to food systems

Interdependence of this kind constitutes one of the foundational ideas of the SDGs, which reflect where we hope to be in 2030. The SDGs include 17 goals ranging from eradication of poverty and hunger, through gender equality, sustainable cities, and quality education, to reduced inequalities, justice, and climate action. To reach these goals, we need to address them through an intersectional approach. In this spirit, article 11 ICESCR obliges States Parties to improve methods of production, conservation, and distribution of food inter alia by reforming agrarian systems to ensure adequate food.

With the same idea as the starting point, the first ever UN food systems summit was held in late 2021. The focus of the summit was to take a step back to get the full picture of how food systems function, considering patterns in production, processing, transport, consumption, and disposal of food. The goal is to develop practical solutions to create healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable food systems. The same thought has now been picked up in the NNR2022, which form the scientific basis for national nutrient recommendations and dietary guidelines in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. It is the first time that sustainability and environmental issues are included in the NNR and this is done with explicit reference to SDG12 on responsible consumption and production patterns. The goal is ‘science-based recommendations that are good for everyone’.

What next?

Recognising that environmental sustainability and nutritional adequacy are inseparably linked with the right to health requires the global approach to food systems to be restructured. A holistic approach is needed, to improve food systems along with the health of humans and that of the planet. The example that the NNR2022 set by including environmental considerations in dietary recommendations is a vital step towards achieving the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Once the recommendations are published, it remains to be seen whether that really is enough to change people’s dietary choices.