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Nutritional ecology

Nutrition ecology is the science, that studies the impacts of human nutrition, on environment, on human health and on social systems. Environmental detriments are usually the result of intensive food production, food transport and food packaging; resulting in soil contamination and erosion, energy consumption, air pollution and waste disposal.
Malnutrition and insalubrious eating habits in industrialised countries result in an increasing degree in nutrition-related diseases (diabetes, hypertension, gout, overweight, etc.) and their psychological and social consequences. Nutrition ecology aspires to guidelines for balanced diet and suitable eating behaviour to reduce the risks to sicken from chronic diseases.
One should also bear clearly in mind the social aspects of food supply and nutrition, regarding production, irrigation, trade and working conditions, extremely poor in less developed countries. The aims of nutrition ecology overlap with those of the Agenda 21 and the Customer Protection.




Breakdown by activity of the greenhouse gases emissions in France for 2001, all gases (except ozone) being taken into account.
It is noticeable that the first source corresponds to agricultural activities, at the same level than industry or transportation.
From CITEPA, 2002




Food production and transport have strong effect on the environment. Its state, in turn, bears on the quality of food. The environmental impact of food production is determined by the agricultural method used. Conventional farming methods rely on extensive use of natural resources and result in higher concentrations of chemical residua in eatables. As opposed to that, the burden of the environment by organic farming is lower since biologic agriculture circumvents the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilisers by applying biological pest control and manure, the choice of species well adapted to the ecosystem and rotating crops. Integrated farming combines organic and conventional methods, resulting in an intermediate environmental impact. In order to reduce the pressure on nature by the food industry, the emphasis has to be the global advancement of biological agriculture, the reduction of routes of transport (e.g. by increase in transport cost) and the economy of packaging means, stepping forward.





Contribution of vegetarian diets
There are many reasons for vegetarians to avoid the consumption of meat, amongst them religious belief, health, ecological, ethical and philosophical aspects. Notwithstanding the attitude, it is a matter of fact that animal husbandry requires at least ten times more energy input and soil than plant cultivation. Thus, worldwide, about 40% of crop yield is necessitated for cattle feeding, being amongst others a reason for underfeeding in the developing world. Dung, accumulating in industrial agriculture, causes high concentrations of potentially carcinogenic nitrates in drinking water and vegetables. Animal breeding requires considerable energy and water resources, leading to deforestation, overgrazing and overfishing.

Vegetarian alimentation or at least the rare consumption of meat would doubtlessly reduce the environmental stress. Albeit, the reduction of packaging materials and itineraries by the preliminary use of seasonally available and locally harvested species may appears visionary and idealistic but crucial on the way to sustainable agriculture. At long sight, the exploitation of cattle by inappropriate feeding or keeping them overcrowded, long transport routes, the excessive use of pesticides and antibiotics in order to yield increase end up in biting the hand that feeds us.