Our food system produces a third (34%) of global greenhouse gas emissions. As the effects of climate change accelerate, we’re likely to see a shift towards more sustainable diets which put less strain on the environment and our natural resources. However, diets cannot be truly sustainable unless they are also nutritionally balanced and so  nutritional contribution, healthiness and environmental sustainability of food must be considered in combination.​

Whilst animal-based foods e.g. milk, produce more carbon per kg than plant based foods, they are rich in specific micronutrients (e.g., iron, vitamin B12) which are important for health and not found abundantly in plant-based foods. Milk, which is consumed widely throughout the UK, is rich in calcium, vitamin B12, iodine and selenium. Despite being drunk widely, certain groups such as teenage girls and pregnant women  still risk deficiency of some of these nutrients due to their high needs.

The food chain is constantly evolving to improve sustainability. For milk, the UK dairy roadmap sets targets for environmental improvements including emissions, water use, energy efficiency, biodiversity and waste so the environmental impact of the dairy food chain is continually evolving. However there can be variation in the environmental impact of the same foods being produced both within the same and across different countries. There is a need for up to date data which accurately quantifies the environmental and nutritional impact of the practices and processes across the food chain to identify more sustainable ways to produce milk whilst maintaining the nutritional content. Data is collected across the food chain by different stakeholders, but it is fragmented and needs better alignment for the purposes of policy design, implementation, monitoring, and research.

​Our project will map the environmental sustainability and nutritional composition data that exist across the milk supply chain from farm production to shop shelf by interviewing stakeholders across the supply chain. These will include trade associations, farmers unions, processing companies, retailers and government bodies involved in milk production.

We will gain knowledge on the environmental and nutritional data that currently exists, the methods used for measuring and collecting the data, how the data interacts across different stages of the food chain, explore individual’s attitudes to data openness, visualise data coverage and identify any data gaps.

As well as involving collaboration with government, policymakers, nutrition professionals and industry stakeholders, our research will include critical dairy stakeholders (DairyUK, FSA, DEFRA) and so the insights gained can be directly fed back into and optimise the real-world food system. It will also enable evaluation of new regulations and policies implemented by policymakers aimed at improving public health and the environment. This places this research in a unique position to have a measurable and lasting impact on the progress of the dairy food chain towards net zero.

These data maps will contribute to our understanding of how changes in processes or practices could impact the sustainability and nutritional content of the  milk which ends up on our supermarket shelves and help us to identify key stages in the chain where changes could be made to reduce environmental impact.