 According to the Worldwatch Institute(2009) the major

problem in the global food production system is in the

unsustainable inputs that are sued.
 As a result, many forms of environmental degradation
occur; falling water tables, deterioration of pasture,
soil erosion.
 The Western diet, with its high consumption of fish,
meat and dairy products is endangering the
environment; croplands are diminishing and the
ocean’s fish stocks are in decline.
 These grim warning signs are matched with
some positive signs of awareness in society for
health, environmental stewardship and animal
welfare.
 As a response to the problems being caused by
conventional farming techniques the term
sustainable food is now used to describe food
production that does not take more natural
resources than it gives back.
 Sustainable food producers see nature as an
ally rather than as an obstacle, they are able
to produce wholesome food in symbiosis with
nature and the surrounding community.
 Safe, healthy and nutritious, for
consumers in shops, restaurants, schools,
hospitals, etc. And can meet the needs of
the less well-off people.
 Provides a viable livelihood for farmers,
processors and retailers, whose
employees enjoy a safe and hygienic
working environment whether in the
United Kingdom or overseas.
 Respects biophysical and environmental
limits in its production and processing,
while reducing energy consumption and
improving the wider environment; it also
respects the highest standards of animal
health and welfare, compatible with the
production of affordable food for all
sectors of society.

 Supports rural economies and the

diversity of rural culture, in particular
through an emphasis on local products
that keep food miles to a minimum.
 The term sustainable food may not sound
exciting as a description but catering
businesses who develop processes to
improve the sustainability of the food
they offer stand a better chance of
meeting the growing demands of
individual consumers.
 Once the domain of students and hippies
the movement has moved into
mainstream society and is represented
by some very prominent industry players
 Starbucks, has started selling four categories
of what it calls “sustainable coffees”.
 The nature of sustainable food often means
that they are more expensive than other
types of food.
 Inevitably, there is a danger that restaurant
operations seeking to provide clients with
sustainable food choices may increase prices.
 There is limited evidence that individual
restaurant consumers are prepared to both
purchase and pay a premium for sustainable
food products.
Although consumer awareness
of sustainability is growing, it
is not yet making a huge
difference to what customers
choose to buy when they shop
for food or sit down to eat in a
restaurant.
While the family of sustainable
restaurants is wide and can include
prosperous niche operations such as
organic, vegetarian or healthy food
eateries that send a message of
health and vitality, results from
studies suggest that if a restaurant is
planning on “going sustainable” and
simply promoting environmental
friendliness and stakeholder
commitment, it might not have a
striking success.
How it purchases ingredients,
could make sense from an
environmental, moral and
investor-relations perspective
but it might not make much
difference to customers.
Found that 45% of consumers would
like to know more about the food they
are offered when eating out-of-home.
When offered meals that include
organic ingredients, free range meats
or fair trade products, 52% say that
they would be pleased; 45% think they
would be likely to order such food.
Today Food and Beverages industry is
more competitive than ever.
As the companies in the various
sectors compete and grow
sustainability becomes a very
important concern.
Sustainability issues in food industry
can cover a range of topics
concerning environmental, social and
economic backgrounds.
Food security exists when all people
have physical and economic access
to sufficient, safe, and nutritious
food.
Unfortunately, food security does not
exist for a significant proportion of
the world population.
But how to achieve this goal is
debated controversially.
 Some see the development and use of GM
crops as key to reduce hunger
 others consider this technology as a further
risk to food security.
 Many People see genetically modified food
as a worrying technology
 Advocates of genetically modified food
products see them as a near-perfect
solution for reducing environmental
impacts, improving human health and
creating new products with enhanced long-
term health benefits.
 GM crops could contribute to food
production increases and thus improve the
availability of food at global and local
levels.
 GM crops could affect food safety and
food quality.
 GM crops could influence the economic
and social situation of farmers, thus
improving or worsening their economic
access to food.
 Defining what is unsustainable or “junk food” would
be easier for most people.
 People are used to seeing “organic” food in
supermarkets and some have an understanding of
organic food production.
 Food is often understood and easily spotted by its
label
 The main impacts of many of the foodstuffs supplied
to hotels and restaurants may have been in
processing, packing or distribution, not just at the
stage of producing raw materials.
 Itmeans less environmental impact resulting
from travel (food miles) and buying locally
helps support the local economy.
 The “Localvore” movement( also known as
hundred mile diet, where participants choose
to consume only locally produced foods) is
gaining momentum.
 However, it can be naive to imagine that this
practice is automatically more energy efficient
than transported produce.
Locally produced sausages can
hardly be describe as sustainable
if the ingredients are coming
from the other side of the
country or continent and it could
be less fresh than sea trout
flown in from thousands of miles
away.
 The immense production reduction in
transport costs, cheap food production in
ransport costs, cheap food production in
developing countries as well as the increase
of big food companies and supermarket
chains are responsible for dramatically
reducing farm-gate prices in industrialized
nations
 Local shops are increasingly disappearing
and effects on rural economies and farming
communities are detrimental (Defra, 2007)
 The complexity if the issue is typified by the
number of different schemes that set certain
standards covering one or more of the
following : food safety and traceability,
animal welfare, environmental protection.
 The world standard GlobalGap and in Europe
the EurepGAP standard are designed to help
producers improve food quality and safety,
biodiversity, more efficient use of natural
resources minimum use of pesticides and
fertilizers and worker health and safety.
 Food labelled as organic is
produced in heavily
regulated agricultural
systems that stipulate what
can added to crops in terms
of fertilizer or pest
treatment, how waste is
dealt with and how animals
must be reared.
 Restaurant menus should be based on
ingredients that are in season and chefs
should look for inspiration from the flow
of seasons and the fresh products that
become available.
 Seasonal offerings not only reduce the
importation of food out of season but also
enhance local and regional diversity of
plant and animal varieties as well as
often leading to rediscovery of local
cooking traditions.
 Food coming from farmers in developing
countries with the Fairtrade label receive
better prices for their products and have
decent working conditions.
 Fairtrade initiatives are often in tandem with
local economic development, this sustainable
approach benefits the community at large.
 Fairtrade is an initiative designed to help
especially small –scale farmers to survive in
the global economy.
The concept of sustainable
lifestyle is closely associated
with purchasing sustainable food.
The choice of food and the way
it is produced and manufactured,
has a significant impact on the
health of individuals.
 The main preoccupation of the food
economy is to increase production in
 order to feed the growing world
population and fulfil the culinary desires
of the developed nations
 issues such as the quality of
products,nutritional value and health
implications are sometimes neglected.
 Recent problems, much reported by the
media include health scares
ecological disasters such as
over-fishing and intensive factory
farming of animals.
A sustainable food and beverage
model requires the whole food
supply chain, from food production
to food sourcing to food preparation
needs to be respectful of both
human health and the environment.