Grégoire Saboret1, Loïc Thurre2, Noémie Pidoux 3(2024). Food for Thought: Could Swiss agriculture provide healthy and sustainable food for its population? (PDF)
The Planetary Health Diet (PHD) is a reference diet for the entire population aimed at respecting the planetary boundaries for environmental resources while optimizing human’s population health (Willet et al. 2019). Swiss consumption of certain types of food is far from the PHD. This suggests that dietary habits should shift protein sources towards plant-based options, preferably non-transformed such as beans, lentils or soy. This change can’t be triggered without considering a transformation of our agricultural systems. Currently, one-third of Switzerland’s land is dedicated to agriculture, covering about 1.5 million cultivated hectares, or roughly one hectare per five to six inhabitants. We posed a simple question: Could Swiss agriculture theoretically produce the PHD on this area?
Forage grasses are the primary source of roughage for ruminant livestock and substantially contribute to sustainable milk and meat production. Cultivars adapted to specific environments and management conditions are needed to produce the required amounts of high-quality roughage. Moreover, there is a need to efficiently breed for novel forage grass cultivars to mitigate challenges emerging through climate change and to facilitate sustainable and productive agriculture.
Agriculture is facing a major challenge of feeding the growing world population. Since the green revolution, the abundant use of fertilizers has been widely regarded as a fundamental tool to address this challenge. Switzerland’s agriculture, on average, has used excessive amounts of fertilizers at relatively low efficiency, indicating the need to improve the nutrient use efficiency of Swiss agricultural production.
Agriculture is facing a major challenge of feeding the growing world population. Since the green revolution, the abundant use of fertilizers has been widely regarded as a fundamental tool to address this challenge. Switzerland’s agriculture, on average, has used excessive amounts of fertilizers at relatively low efficiency, indicating the need to improve the nutrient use efficiency of Swiss agricultural production. In this article we present a thought experiment on how to close nitrogen- and nutrient-cycles in Swiss agriculture and thus foster a more sustainable fertilization.
Radek Zenkl, Andreas Berlepsch-Valendas, Frank Liebisch (2024). Food for Thought: Towards Circular Nutrient Economy in Agriculture. Download the report (PDF)
The report was written during seminar: „Sustainable Plant Systems“ (551-0209-00L) at ETH Zurich in 2023.
Did you already think about the impact you could have in your research field on policy-making and you want to learn how to achieve this? Are you enthusiastic to learn about new tools and competencies for successful engagement and communication at the science and policy interface? If yes, join the PhD Program in Science and Policy of ETH Zurich, University of Zurich and University of Basel.
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The publication of RESPONSE fellow Katrin Sievert shows that costs of removing large quantities of CO2 from the air will fall in the medium term, but not as much as previously hoped.
In this report, we summarize the efforts to reduce GHG emissions in the community catering of three Swiss universities: University of Zurich, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich and University of Basel. We present possible interventions and policies implemented in the canteens and discuss the impacts of these interventions in the institutional environments. Finally, we arrive at some recommendations for further action.
García Rosa, A.V., Scharte, M., Paschke, M. (2023). Improving sustainability through canteen policies and interventions at three Swiss universities: ETH Zurich, University of Zurich and University of Basel. Download the report (PDF)
