Pushing The Frontiers Of Nutritional Life Cycle Assessment (nLCA) To Identify Globally Equitable And Sustainable Agri-Food Systems

Nutritional Life Cycle Assessment (nLCA) is a rapidly growing sub-framework of the LCA method which is aimed at identifing the trade-offs between environmental degradation potentials and adequate nutritional provision, an issue of high importance in an ever-increasing global population scenario. nLCA’s capabilities have increased substantially over the past decade. However, there are numerous aspects such as uncertainty considerations, nutritional complexities such as bioavailability and digestibility, require urgent attention and a scientific, open and transparent debates, and cautious interpretation of results. The importance of these discussions is driven largely by minimizing the health risks for the consumers associated with unintentionally misleading recommendations pertaining to dietary shifts and the other interested stakeholders such as primary producers, retailers, and policymakers, particularly when such recommendations are based on highly uncertain data.

Given the challenges related to sustainability assessment trade-offs, this Research Topic aims to collate cutting edge research in the field of nLCA including discussions on nutritional complexities such as bioavailability and digestibility, both of which are affected by ‘anti-nutritional factors’ like lectins, protease inhibitors, and phytates, all of which agri-food LCA practitioners should be aware of in addition to options on how to address them. These may include, for example novel aspects of accounting for uncertainty in nLCA, the consideration of nutrient quality (as opposed to quantity), complementarity of nutrients at the meal and diet levels, data gaps and how to fill them, and transparent interpretation of results, with an emphasis on methodological limitations and risks related to misinforming consumers on their dietary patterns. Studies exploring broader sustainability trade-offs including societal impacts and economic viability of food systems are also encouraged but should be contextualized under the LCA framework and include a strong element on food security and nutrient provision. Unless novel methodological developments are included, studies comparing the environmental impacts of plant-based diets with omnivorous diets (and everything in between) are beyond the scope of this call for submissions. Finally, submissions are particularly welcome which deliver novel evidence bases for nations and/or regions which are often underrepresented in nLCA literature (e.g., low-middle income countries). This can include cultural, political, and policy-driven aspects which affect regional diets and agricultural production. Well-designed qualitative research which can inform future directions of nLCA (e.g., perceptions on dietary shifts) will also be considered.



This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, discussions, and opinions, technical notes on methodological advancements, data reports, and systematic literature reviews concerning the broad issues below, but manuscripts are not limited to these: submissions covering one or more are welcome, and topics not specified will be considered if they align with the overarching Research Topic’s goal, and there must be a coherent narrative. Major topics:

• Accounting for bioavailability and digestibility within the nLCA framework

• Improving uncertainty analyses related to both environmental and nutritional inventory data

• Nutritional complementarity, data gaps, and how to fill them to improve the accuracy of nLCA

• Communicating complex sustainability models to non-scientific stakeholders without risking misinterpretation

• Considering unintended consequences of shifting dietary patterns (e.g., land use change, rural economies, increased fortification, animal welfare, etc.)