Webinar Description:

Sustainable dietary patterns should be environmentally sound, socially equitable, economically viable, and nutritionally adequate for current and future generations. How do we measure sustainable dietary practices? We highlight the challenges in defining and measuring food system sustainability and emphasize the need for integrative assessment that considers all four pillars. Through a modified Delphi technique, our research gathered insights from global experts across diverse fields to identify critical outcomes for evaluating sustainable diets. In this webinar, we will discuss the methodology used, present key findings, and outline the implications for future discussions on the evaluation of the sustainability of diets.

Speakers:

• Dr. Nicole Tichenor Blackstone, Assistant Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University

Dr. Nicole Tichenor Blackstone is an Assistant Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. Dr. Blackstone is a sustainability scientist who studies the environmental and social impacts of food system innovations, interventions, and policies. Currently, she leads the Leading a Sustainability Transition in Nutrition Globally (LASTING) Project, which aims to produce evidence-based recommendations, models, and data for integrated sustainability assessment of diets. Dr. Blackstone is also a founding affiliated faculty member of the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture. She leads or co-leads several projects focused on the environmental and social implications of cultivated meat.

• Dr. Sean B. Cash, Bergstrom Foundation Professor of Global Nutrition and the Chair of the Division of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. 

Dr. Sean B. Cash is the Bergstrom Foundation Professor of Global Nutrition and the Chair of the Division of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the School. He is an economist who teaches and conducts research on food, nutrition behavior, agriculture and the environment.  His research focuses on how food, nutrition, and environmental interventions and policies affect both consumers and producers. He has also conducted research in sustainable food systems, including projects on climate change and coffee and tea production, cellular agriculture, and invasive species management.

• Dr. Katherine Fuller, Assistant Professor in the Applied Economics department at Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences

Dr. Katherine Fuller is an Assistant Professor in the Applied Economics department at Oregon State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences. Her research analyzes consumers’ acceptance and willingness to pay for food labels and novel food products. Her research interests focus on the efficacy of food labels and their impact on farmers’ livelihoods, consumer interest in cellular agriculture, and food labeling for ethical and environmental purposes. She also analyzes sociodemographic factors that influence consumers’ decisions to purchase sustainable products.

Moderator:

• Dr. Shibani Ghosh, Director of the Food Systems for Nutrition Innovation Lab, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University

Dr. Ghosh is a Research Associate Professor at the Friedman School, Tufts and the Director of the USAID Food Systems for Nutrition Innovation Lab and USAID Jordan Nutrition Innovation Lab.  With a focus on examining malnutrition in all its forms, she designs and implements rigorous research to generate evidence and identify actions for program and policy recommendation.   She has published extensively, is co-chair of the Global Nutrition Report, former Innovation Lab Council Chair and an expert on committees convened by the United Nations Food Agriculture Organization, the US National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and the US National Institutes of Health.