Nutrition for a Better Life

Foreword
Prof.?Dr.?Patrick Aebischer
Less than twenty years ago, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) defined the right to food. It is the "right of every individual alone or in community with others, to have physical and economic access at all times to sufficient, adequate and culturally acceptable food that is produced and consumed sustainably, preserving access to food for future generations". Availability, accessibility, adequacy and sustainability: a rather ambitious definition. And just when we, humans, define the right to food, scientists (notably the then chief UK scientist J. Beddington) predict that by 2030, the demand for food will increase by 50%, for energy by 50%, and for water by 30%, thus creating a 'perfect storm' of global events. Today (2015) 793 million people still go hungry-down from 927 in 2007. We will need innovation, policy, and behavioral changes to fight this storm. Science and technology, universities and businesses must make a significant contribution.
Can the world population of 2030-that's 8.5 billion people-be fed equitably, healthily and sustainably? The good news is that hunger in its most extreme form has decreased globally from over 1 billion in 1990-1992, representing 18.9 percent of the world's population, to 842 million in 2011-2013, or 12 percent of the population. To meet future food demand, agricultural productivity must increase everywhere, particularly among poor farmers. Meeting this challenge requires continued innovation in food processing and packaging to deliver safe, nutritious, and affordable food. It requires reduction of waste and losses, improved crops tolerant to stress, pollution by smarter use of water, fertilizers and new pesticides. We must do it all. The question is not whether productivity should be raised to address hunger and malnutrition. The question is how to achieve this. Increasing yields alone will not suffice.
We need a "greener" Green Revolution. The first Green

Contents
Foreword9
Introduction15
The future of food-personalized, science-based, resources efficient, caring19
Chapter 1:
On the way to nutrition of the future21
Global megatrends on the consumer side22
The tasks of the new food science33
Life Sciences-A new dimension of science as a solution35
Chapter 2:
From the beginnings of industrial food production to today43
When the specter of hunger dominated the world44
With industrialization came prosperity47
What has changed since the baby boomer period65
The international food industry72
The development of research from its beginnings to nutrigenomics76
Chapter 3:
How can a growing world population stay healthy and live longer?85
Societal changes affect the global food industry87
Food to stay healthy and fit93
How the global food industry is structured101
Chapter 4:
Life Sciences and the revolution of biology, nutrition and health 109
The mission statement-A personalized diet for different population groups109
Understanding how the body really works 111
Living a long and healthy life as a research target 125
Chapter 5:
The responsibility of the food industry129
The consumer is the focus from the very beginning129
The growing market for specialty and wellness food131
Nutrition as therapy139
Solutions for certain life situations and risk groups 140
Chapter 6:
The responsibility of policy143
Preventive health systems as part of global health 145
Ensuring fair competition as a political task147
Chapter 7:
The responsibility of each individual149
What can we decide and what not?149
Traditions, diet myths and ideological trends154
How the social environment shapes our eating habits160
The influence of diet on health163
Chapter 8:
Milestones on the way to the future175
What is conceivable, what is possible?176
Appendix 181
Notes 189
Literature199
Internet 211
Acknowledgements217
Index 218

Peter Brabeck-Letmathe is chairman of the board of directors at Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland, as well as vice chairman of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum.