Geneva press briefing: Milk, eggs and meat contribute to healthy diets for improved nutrition and health outcomes

Geneva – Beate Scherf, FAO Animal Production Officer at the Animal Production and Health Division together with Patrizia Fracassi, FAO Senior Nutrition and Food Systems Officer at the Food and Nutrition Division, addressed the Geneva press corp on the latest findings on the contribution of terrestrial animal source food to healthy diets for improved nutrition and health outcomes at the Biweekly Press Briefing organized by the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva.

Scherf highlighted that FAO launched the first of four component documents of an assessment of the contribution of livestock to food security, sustainable food systems, nutrition and healthy diets. This first report was based on more than 500 scientific papers and around 250 policy documents. Scherf said that Eggs, milk or meat offered essential nutrients that could not be as easily obtained from plant-based foods and were important during key life stages, such as pregnancy and lactation, childhood, adolescence and older age. A single chicken egg provided small children with up to 64 percent of the daily Vitamin B12 intake required for optimal growth. Globally, more than 1 in 2 preschool aged children and 1.2 billion women of child-bearing age suffered from the lack of at least one of three micronutrients - iron, vitamin A or zinc - and three quarters of these children lived in South and East Asia, the Pacific and sub-Saharan Africa. As the world is facing climate change, biodiversity loss and degradation of land and natural resources, the livestock sector both contributed to and was affected by those challenges. Future component documents would guide the changes that needed to be made.

To take full advantage of the benefits of terrestrial animal source food outlined in the report, the livestock sector and wider agrifood systems needed to be transformed. Scherf underscored that for this transformation, we must manage trade-offs between different goals to enable the livestock sector to contribute to ending hunger, poverty and malnutrition and reduce its impact on the environment.

FAO Liaison Office in Geneva

Based in Geneva, a hub of international cooperation and multilateral diplomacy, FAO Liaison Office (LOG) promotes to the Geneva-based partners FAO’s contribution to the 2030 Agenda through its 2022-31 Strategic Framework. Moreover, the Liaison Office monitors and informs the Geneva-based deliberations to strategically position the Organization in line with its mandate and champion key thematic issues. As part of its liaison work, FAO in Geneva cooperates with the United Nations Information Service (UNIS) in Geneva to communicate and highlight the role of food and agriculture in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Related links

- Geneva Press Briefing (25 April 2023)

- Publication: Contribution of terrestrial animal source food to healthy diets for improved nutrition and health outcomes

- Key messages of the publication

- Global press release

- FAO Animal Production website