Food Choices for a Healthy Planet:
The Game

Learn how the decisions you make about what to eat can have positive impacts not only on your health, but can even help fight climate change.

Food Choices for a Healthy Planet: The Game

Learn how the decisions you make about what to eat can have positive impacts not only on your health, but can even help fight climate change.

About the game

"Food Choices for a Healthy Planet" was produced via a food system solutions activator featuring nutrition and climate change experts from across the globe. They looked at diets in four regions and used a distinct lens for each: Nordic Countries (sustainability), Brazil (local and whole foods instead of ultra-processed foods), Canada (plant-forward), and Indonesia (developing countries, children).

Instead of using a prescriptive approach and offering a single perspective for global diets that could be translated to fit the needs of individual countries, the group developed a country-first perspective, recognizing that each country has distinct cultural, economic, historical, and agricultural capacities to feed itself.

From that starting point, the group created "Food Choices for a Healthy Planet," an online game designed to bring greater awareness to the impacts these personal food choices have on our health, the environment, and the cultures in which we live.

Canadian Diet

Lana Vanderlee

Assistant Professor
L'ÉCOLE DE NUTRITION - LAVAL UNIVERSITY

Canada is a large, diverse country with a population of 37 million, most of whom live in urban centers. As one of the most multicultural countries in the world, Canadians come from all across the globe and bring along their unique habits and attitudes towards food. While some would say that traditional Canadian foods are things like maple syrup and poutine (french fries with cheese curds and gravy from Quebec), the food stories of Canadians are as wide and diverse as Canada’s geography.

In 2019, Canada released what some would describe as a revolutionary new food guide that promotes greater consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and plant-based proteins and also promotes a decrease in consumption of highly processed foods. The food guide also emphasizes a holistic approach to eating – enjoying eating, sharing meals with others, and cooking whenever possible. If Canadians were to adopt these recommendations, this acceptance would be a major shift in dietary habits: the vast majority of Canadians currently eat unhealthy diets, made up largely of”‘ultra-processed” foods that have ill effects on both our health and the planet’s health.

These new dietary guidelines are a good reminder that our dietary choices have multiple impacts not only on our health, but also impacts related to sustainability, climate change, the environment, and our food culture and traditions. Canadians make hundreds of food decisions every day within environments where healthy, sustainable choices can be difficult. What are some of the ways we can nurture healthy food choices among Canadians that can support human and planetary health? Let’s see!

Nordic Diet

Marie Persson

Project Manager
NORDIC FOOD POLICY LAB - NORDIC COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

Welcome to the North!

Imagine climatic conditions with drastic seasonal changes: long winters with frost and snow combined with long and warm summer days. Only the most well-adapted and resilient of plants and wild animals survive. These are the conditions facing the farmers in the Nordic region (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland). This may explain why the trendy green kale is especially popular in the Nordics; it’s not only sustainable, relatively cheap, packed with vitamins… It’s also possible to grow in conditions as low as -20 °C, thus convincing us that it’s worthy of the name superfood. Kale aside, most of the Nordic diet is made up of potatoes, root vegetables, fish and shellfish, meat, berries, and fruits (e.g., apples, pears). This region and its five countries have a total population of 26 million inhabitants.

How New Nordic became the new normal

While inspired by global influences, the modern Nordic food culture has in the past decade seen somewhat of a revival in the use of traditional ingredients and preservation techniques. The New Nordic Kitchen Manifesto was launched in 2004 and included 10 basic principles. Predominantly plant-based and locally sourced, the modern Nordic diet encourages more sustainable production. Building on the momentum created by the manifesto in 2004 by a group of chefs, new food policies and food culture projects have been implemented all around the Nordic region. In this way, the food culture change that started in the gastronomy sector has spread to school canteens, workplaces, and home cooks. In 2018, the WHO launched a high-profile report showing that the New Nordic diet is as healthy and sustainable as the Mediterranean diet. Compared to an average Western diet, the new Nordic diet contains less sugar and fat but twice the fiber and seafood.

Dietary guidelines - Better nutrition is a collective responsibility

The joint work in the area of nutrition is one of the most successful parts of the Nordic intergovernmental collaboration, with the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations (NNR) being the flagship document guiding the countries. It helps establish agreement on the facts, which in turn helps the individual countries craft robust and ambitious national dietary guidelines. In the latest version released in 2014, the NNR included a chapter on sustainability – one of the first dietary guidelines globally to include this focus,. It discussed the way the Nordic diet should be composed to take into account not only human health, but also planetary health and climate. The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations, released in 2022, will feature sustainability much more prominently. Recent scientific findings on healthy and sustainable diets will be carefully reviewed during the process of making recommendations.

Changing consumer trends

There are increasing concerns among Nordic citizens about the sustainability impacts of their dietary choices. Price is still a major determinant of food choices, but wellbeing, health, and sustainability are rising as top priorities for consumers. Arguments surrounding the environmental, climate, human health, and animal welfare impacts of diets are the main motivations behind a growing movement for more plant-based diets. Roughly 30% of Nordic millennials choose to reduce their meat consumption for these reasons.

Brazilian Diet

Carla Martins

Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Visiting Fellowship
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER

Maria Alvim

PhD candidate
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE - UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO

Mariana Madruga

PhD candidate
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE - UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO

Brazil is a middle-income country from the Latin America region with a population of approximately 214 million people.

Brazil has five central regions (South, Southeast, Mid-West, North, and Northeast). In the Brazilian context, buying and cooking fresh foods is still less expensive than buying/eating ultra-processed foods. For this reason, most Brazilians population in all regions still consume the traditional Brazilian diet, usually made up of rice and beans, roots and tubers, vegetables, meat, fresh fruits, and other unprocessed and minimally processed foods. However, this pattern has started to change in the last few decades. The prices of some fresh and minimally processed foods, like vegetables and meat, are increasing while the prices of ultra-processed foods, like sausages and confectioneries, are decreasing. In addition, Brazilians are eating away from home more often.

In 2014, Brazil released a new food guide with this golden rule: “Always prefer natural or minimally processed foods and freshly made dishes and meals to ultra-processed foods.” In other words, opt for water, milk, and fruits instead of soft drinks, dairy drinks, and biscuits; do not replace freshly prepared dishes with products that do not require culinary preparation; and stick to homemade desserts, avoiding industrialized ones. In 2019, the Brazilian Ministry of Health published its new Dietary Guidelines for children under 2 years, reinforcing the importance of valuing the Brazilian traditional diets and avoiding ultra-processed foods to protect and promote Brazilian children’s health.

Both the Brazilian guidelines are aligned about the necessity to promote and protect people and the planet’s health. This goal can be achieved by promoting healthy and sustainable food systems and facilitating people’s better food choices.

Indonesian Diet

Becky Ramsing

Senior Program Officer
JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE

Saskia de Pee

Senior Technical Advisor for Nutrition
UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

Martin Bloem

Director
JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR A LIVABLE FUTURE

Indonesia is a diverse country comprising over 17,000 islands and 250 million people. It is considered a middle-income country, but for a large part of the population, the dietary patterns remain far more typical of a low-income country with a high intake of a single staple (rice) and low overall animal-source food (especially meat) consumption; however, this is not so for all Indonesians. Indonesia suffers from a double burden of undernutrition and overweight/obesity (with the latter mainly a problem of the rich at present). In 2014, 36% of children under 5 years old were stunted; 8.4% of all Indonesians lived under the international poverty line; and 7.6% consumed below the minimum level of dietary energy requirement. At the same time, the prevalence of adults who are overweight doubled from 2007 (12%) to 2014 (25%). In 2016, 73% of all deaths were a result of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) (35% cardiovascular, 12% cancer, 6% diabetes). People who have suffered undernutrition during childhood are at higher risk of NCDs, including diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity, later in life.

Indonesia has a strong set of national Dietary Guidelines, yet the country’s development strategy is primarily focused on rice, maize, sugar, and soy. Its food security program provides rice (15 kg/household/month) to poor families. As Indonesia continues to develop and grow, there is an opportunity to provide all Indonesians access to diverse and high-quality foods within a sustainable food system and to encourage them to make healthy choices.

From the Healthy Diets from Sustainable Production: Indonesia report: “Dietary changes that could benefit both health and environment include the substitution of some refined rice by a wider variety of starchy or non-starchy foods; a higher intake of fruits and vegetables that have traditionally been grown in Indonesia; and higher intakes of fats and proteins among poorer people and undernourished children, coupled with a curbing of added sugars and oils in processed foods. A further priority is the promotion of sustainably produced animal foods from fish capture, aquaculture and land. All these changes would be best promoted by coordinated action across public sector spheres of agriculture, health, environment and industry.”

Game Architects

Douglas Gayeton

Co-Founder

The Lexicon

Douglas Gayeton, Chief Lexicographer and Co-founder of The Lexicon, is an award-winning information architect, filmmaker, photographer, and writer who has created work at the boundaries of traditional and converging media since the early 90’s. He directed the KNOW YOUR FOOD series for PBS and GROWING ORGANIC for USDA, and has authored two books, SLOW: Life in a Tuscan Town, and LOCAL: The New Face of Food & Farming in America.

Lana Vanderlee

Assistant Professor

Université Laval

Dr. Lana Vanderlee’s research aims to design and evaluate population-level nutrition policies and interventions that address diet-related non-communicable diseases and environmental sustainability, to help inform Canadian and international policy decisions. She conducts applied research with global networks of investigators to evaluate the status and impact of government and food industry policies relating to food environments, like dietary guidelines, restrictions on marketing unhealthy foods to children, food labelling, efforts to reformulate the food supply, and sugary drink taxes.

Marie Persson

Project Manager Swedish Food Strategy

Tillväxtverket

Marie Persson is the Project officer of the Nordic Food Policy Lab based at the Nordic Council of Ministers. Through action oriented policy labs and collaborations with international partners, we curate and help develop food policy tools and insights for health & sustainability.

With a background at a research network for food systems sustainability at Oxford University (Food Climate Research Network) and with my current work being focused on merging policy, culture and innovation for sustainble food, I’m interested in how we can bring together diverse fields of expertise to accelerate a transformation towards sustainable healthy diets.

I am passionate about working with food and food systems, as it is the place where so many if our challenges around human and planetary wellbeing converge. I am also interested in collaborations between science, art, design and policy, and in utilizing the power of storytelling. I helped create (and now sit on the board) of the non-profit Art & Science Initiative.

Pier Giorgio Provenzano

Head of Digital

The Lexicon

Pier Giorgio Provenzano is The Lexicon’s Head of Digital and lead Animator and Video Editor. Based near Bristol, England, his projects include a short film series for PBS, music videos for Napster, a feature-length documentary for HBO, several animated shorts for Warner Brothers and Toyota, short films for Sustainable Food Trust, and GrowEatGather, which showcases British farmers and their role in producing good sustainable food.

Becky Ramsing

Senior Program Officer, Food Communities & Public Health

Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future

Becky is a senior program officer at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, where she oversees research, communication, evaluation and programming that facilitate a shift toward sustainable, healthy diets that are plant-forward and lower in meat. She is primarily responsible for managing the Center’s science advisory role with the Meatless Monday Campaign.

Prior to joining the CLF, Becky worked as a Technical Advisor for Nutrition and Food Security to projects in Afghanistan and Ethiopia, helping women produce and utilize food for family consumption and income generation. She also worked as a nutrition consultant for community, worksite, and school-based programs developing and implementing health and nutrition curricula.

Becky studied nutrition at the University of California, Davis and became a registered dietitian in 1990. She received her Master in Public Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 1999. She worked clinically and then internationally developing a clinic-based diabetes nutrition education program in Tanzania. Throughout her career, Becky has worked in the nutrition/public health field focusing on helping individuals and organizations make healthful, lifestyle choices that are evidence based, relevant, and sustainable.

Maria Alvim

PhD candidate, School of Medicine

University of São Paulo

Currently a member of the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health (Nupens/USP), deputy external affairs secretary at World Public Health Nutrition Association (WPHNA) and PhD candidate at the Preventive Medicine Program of the University of São Paulo Medical School (FMUSP). Maria Alvin has a master’s degree in Public Health and Graduation in Nutrition at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF). Her work focuses on Nutritional Epidemiology, with emphasis on food environment and child obesity.

Carla Martins

Professor

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

Carla Martins is currently a professor at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro and a researcher at the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health (NUPENS/USP). She worked as part of the team that developed the Dietary Guidelines for the Brazilian Population. Her work focuses on cooking and its impact on ultra-processed food consumption; and cooking as a tool for protection and promotion of human health and environmental sustainability.

Mariana Madruga

Technical Advisor

Ministério da Saúde

Master candidate at the Preventive Medicine Program of the University of São Paulo Medical School (FMUSP). Currently member of Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health (Nupens/USP). Had Graduation in Nutrition at University of Nove de Julho (UNINOVE) and Hospitality at University of São Francisco (USF). Her work focuses on Nutritional Epidemiology, with emphasis on ditribuition and trends of ultra-processed food consumption.

Saskia de Pee

Chief Analytics & Science for Food & Nutrition

World Food Programme

Saskia de Pee is Senior Technical Advisor for Nutrition at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) where she leads the ‘Fill the Nutrient Gap’ team, is Adjunct Associate Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston and Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Livable Future, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. She has worked in public health nutrition for more than 20 years, co-authored more than 150 scientific publications and holds a PhD in Nutrition from Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

The practical application of nutrition science, at the interface with disciplines such as food technology, anthropology, economics, climate change and in collaboration with stakeholders from government, private sector, donors and academia, to achieve sustainable solutions for sustainable, healthy and nutritious diets, is her passion. Prior to joining WFP she worked fo Helen Keller International in the Asia Pacific region for 10 years.

Christopher Gardner

Rehnborg Farquhar Professor

Stanford School of Medicine

Christopher Gardner is a nutrition scientist and the Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine. For 26 years at Stanford he has studied what to consume and to avoid for optimal health, and how best to motivate individuals to achieve healthy dietary behaviors. He has served on many committees for organizations such as the American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, and has conducted and published dozens of human nutrition intervention trials. Current research interests including collaborating with chefs and dining operators as research partners in an effort to identify strategies to optimize the intersection of taste, health and environmental sustainability. Christopher teaches several food and nutrition classes, including an on-line course recently launched through the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning.

Amine Rehioui

Full Stack Developer

The Lexicon

Amine is a game programmer who has been making games for over 13 years on a wide range of platforms, including consoles and mobile. With a particular interest in the intersection between Art and Technology, Amine likes making content creation tools used by both creative and technical disciplines. His main hobby is long-distance running.

Martin Bloem

Professor of Environmental Health and Engineering / International Health

Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future

Martin W. Bloem, MD, PhD, is the inaugural Robert S. Lawrence Professor and director of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future in the Department of Environmental Health and Engineering at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He joined the Center in 2017, after 12 years as a senior nutrition adviser at the United Nations World Food Programme and as a Global Coordinator for the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. At the Center, he is guiding research and programs to adopt a global view of food systems problems, emphasizing the needs of undernourished, low-income populations. Hailing from the Netherlands, Martin earned his medical degree from the University of Utrecht and his doctorate in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Maastricht. His career includes posts in the Netherlands, Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Singapore and Italy. He has co-authored and co-edited seven books and more than one hundred peer- reviewed articles.

Zoe Craig

Project Coordinator

The Lexicon

Zoe received her BA in Environmental Studies from Carleton College. She is passionate about sustainable food systems, and she has worked as a farmer, event planner, marketer, and organizer within the food realm. Zoe has been working with The Lexicon as a researcher and project coordinator for the last two years. She currently lives in the Driftless Area of Southwest Wisconsin, where she does graphic design work for her partner’s salami company, grows her own food, makes art, and writes essays that explore themes of place, impact, and belonging.

Alina Miller

Illustrator

The Lexicon

Alina Miller is a freelance graphic designer who has a passion for illustrating and who specializes in flat and isometric design using vector art. She began her freelance career in 2017, shortly after immigrating from Romania and making Chicago her second home. So far in her career, she has worked on a wide variety of projects ranging from album covers and custom tattoos to company logos and t-shirt designs. Alina is always looking forward to exciting new challenges that exercise her creativity and broaden her technical skills.