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Five (5) ways food biodiversity contributes to healthier diets

Why do we live in a world where millions go hungry while millions are obese, and both groups can
suffer from micronutrient deficiencies? What has led to this paradox and what can we do about
it?

Figure 1. Traditional Sri Lankan dishes and vegetables.

Source: www.bioversityinternational.org/

We have a resource, often undervalued, that can help address these global issues: food
biodiversity. Food biodiversity is the diversity of plants and animals and other organisms used
for food, both cultivated and from the wild.

Five (5) ways food biodiversity contributes to healthier diets:

1. Food biodiversity provides a wide range of nutritious, colorful options to choose from that
meet diverse cultural and taste preferences. Biodiversity has been recognized as a
fundamental principle in recent dietary guidelines like the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid and
the Nordic and Brazilian dietary guidelines.

2. Food biodiversity takes advantage of important and significant nutritional differences

between species. Gac, for example, is a little-known fruit from Southeast Asia that has
much higher levels of beta-carotene – which the body converts to vitamin A – than many
other fruits in the region. Also, different fish species can have different nutrient
compositions. For example, certain local fish species in Bangladesh have high levels of
vitamin B12, calcium, iron and vitamin A – much higher than cultivated fish like carp.

Figure 2. Gac fruit from Vietnam

Source: www.bioversityinternational.org/

08 Handout 2 *Property of STI

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3. Food biodiversity takes advantage of important and significant nutritional differences

within species – orange-fleshed bananas, for example, contain much higher levels of beta-
carotene than typical white bananas – one To’o or Asupina banana can provide enough
vitamin A for a child for a whole day.

Figure 3. To’o Bananas from Papua New Guinea Figure 4. Asupina Bananas from Vietnam
Source: http://www.promusa.org/To%27o Source: http:// http://www.scottsdaleeye.com

4. Food biodiversity provides the ingredients for a portfolio of nutritious foods in different
seasons of the year, including small animals and diverse fruits and vegetables to improve
diets. Lesser known plant and animal species are often well adapted to local environments
including soils and climate, may depend less on farming inputs, and can yet be more
nutritious than typical food commodities.

Figure 5. Traditional African Leafy Vegetables for Sale at a Market in Kenya

Source: www.bioversityinternational.org/

5. Healthy food needs to be: available in sufficient quantities year-round, accessible,

affordable, and acceptable for people to eat it. Food biodiversity offers options that are
often all four. Still, local food biodiversity is often undervalued. Education and promotional
campaigns are critical in spreading the word about food biodiversity. In Peru and Kenya,
for example, working with local chefs has transformed the way that many people felt about
quinoa or local leafy vegetables. Making these nutritious foods desirable keeps them on
plates and in production.

Reference
Kennedy, G., & Stoian, D. (2017, October 13). Five ways food biodiversity contributes to healthier diets. Retrieved on April 4, 2018,
from Biodiversity International: https://www.bioversityinternational.org/news/detail/five-ways-food-biodiversity-contributes-
to-healthier-diets/

08 Handout 2 *Property of STI

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