Editorial: Nutritional Aspects of Sustainable Foods

Aristea Gioxari ^1* Konstantina Argyri ¹ Alexandros Stratakos ²

• ¹ Department of Nutritional Science and Dietetics, School of Health Sciences, University of Peloponnese, Kalamata-Messinia, Greece
• ² University of the West of England, Bristol, England, United Kingdom

The demand for sustainable solutions to combat these changes is imperative and this is further endorsed by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that sets goals for major transformations in agriculture and food systems to end hunger and achieve food and nutrition security by 2030. A sustainable food system encompasses the production, distribution and consumption of sustainable foods. Sustainable foods assure a low environmental impact avoiding the natural resource overexploitation, need to be affordable, culturally acceptable, but mostly nutritionally adequate for macro-and micronutrients. The transition to more sustainable food systems shifts scientific interest towards the exploration of new, alternative sources to produce nutritionally important foods and food ingredients. Agro-food waste, plant-based sources, or aquatic sources constitute examples of sustainable sources for the production and characterization of nutrients (e.g., protein, carbohydrates, lipids, micronutrients) and non-nutrients (e.g., phytochemicals, flavor, pigments). Furthermore, advances in biotechnology applications can be used as a tool to increase the production of sustainable food ingredient sources. A critical feature though, of a sustainable food system is that the food produced does not pose any unintended nutritional consequences. Not only the quantity but also the quality of macronutrients like protein or the bioavailability of micronutrients in sustainable food should ensure that people consume nutrient-rich foods that meet their needs.In this context, the current Research Topic "Nutritional Aspects of Sustainable Foods" has published 7 original articles on sustainable agriculture and sustainable foods in terms of nutrient quality and functional properties.