Sustainable Agrifood System
Engineering

Department of Bioresource Engineering,
McGill University


Environmental Nutriomics Assessment

Under this research theme, we employ environmental life cycle assessments, nutrient profiling, health performance metrics, and multi-objective modeling to determine the simultaneous health, nutrition and environmental implication of consumer food choices and dietary patterns.

Some of our research activities under this theme include

  • Development of decision support systems to stimulate sustainable food choices
  • Multi-objective modeling of the environmental and health implications food choices
  • Consequences of transitioning to sustainable healthy diets (Environment-Nutrition-Health & Economics)

On-going and Completed Projects

Tools for sustainable healthy diets

This project is focused on the development and testing of digital tools for stimulating consumers towards healthy and sustainable diet choices. Some of the core components of this project include:

(a) The development of a Dashboard for Improving Sustainable Healthy (DISH) food choices.

(b) The expansion of DISH into McGill DISH and Quebec DISH.

(c) Pilot test and implementation of the McGill DISH on Macdonald and Downtown Campuses.



Consequences of transitioning to sustainable healthy diets

This project portfolio is focused on investigating the environmental and nutrition trade-offs of transitioning to sustainable healthy diets. Some of the ongoing projects include

(a) Adopting a system-thinking approach for optimizing dietary patterns in the United States

(b) Investigating the gaps and compliance of the Canadain food supply with national and global dietary guidelines

(c) Exploring the impact (Environment, Nutrition and Health) of transitioning to plant-based diets in North America.

(d) Developing environmental-nutrition metrics for product specific sustainability communication.



Multi-objective modeling of food choices and their implications

This project is focused on leveraging machine learning algorithms to model and explore the implications of different dietary scenarios. Some ongoing projects include

(a) Learning from data on food system elements and drivers (from 1960 to 2020) and exploring stringent scenarios to achieve net-zero and zero waste targets in North America.

(b) Learning from African food production, supply, and consumption data and exploring scenarios to support revisions to the CAADP Agreement and the Malabo Declaration