Towards more balanced dietary guidelines. Connecting climate, culture, and nutrition

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identifies food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) as a key tool for reducing the food sector’s impact on climate change. However, large-scale international assessments reveal that most governments fail to effectively integrate health and sustainability goals into their national FBDGs. Additionally, many guidelines have been criticised for lacking cultural relevance and responsiveness. The Balanced Food Choice Index (BFCI) helps pinpoint these shortcomings and highlights best-practice examples from around the world. By quantifying how well dietary guidelines support sustainable and healthy food choices, the BFCI emphasises that balanced diets can, but do not have to, include animal-sourced foods. The concept of ‘balance’ extends beyond food variety, incorporating ethical, ecological, religious, and economic considerations that shape people’s eating habits.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires a transition toward healthier, more sustainable food systems, with an emphasis on plant-rich diets where socio-economically feasible. High-income countries bear a special responsibility in this shift, given their greater financial resources and disproportionately high consumption of animal-sourced foods, which impose global costs. Meanwhile, low- and middle-income countries must ensure that well-planned plant-based diets are accessible for the many citizens who follow them—whether by necessity or by choice.

Join this webinar to critically appraise current dietary guidelines and to uncover opportunities for improving national dietary recommendations, in the UK and beyond.

What will I gain from this webinar?

• Understand the role of dietary guidelines in shaping health and sustainability outcomes, and why many current guidelines fall short.
• Learn how the Balanced Food Choice Index works to assess and improve national dietary recommendations using international best-practice examples.
• Explore strategies for a plant-rich dietary transition, considering ethical, economic, and cultural factors across different global contexts.