Reclaiming island food systems for nutrition and planetary health

Abstract

Dietary colonialism in Caribbean small islands has driven declines in nutrition and cardiometabolic disease risk, resulting from the marginalization of traditional food cultures and subsequent food import dependence. Shifts away from traditional food production also undermine environmental sustainability, with resulting climatic changes threatening island food system stability. In Puerto Rico, smallholder agriculture holds promise in serving as a cornerstone to re-localized food supplies, providing fresh foods in local communities’ informal economies while managing varying ecological and climatic constraints. Informed by these findings, the following work sought to 1) characterize nutrient availability and environmental impacts of current diets in Latin America and the Caribbean, 2) identify island-food-system-specific dietary patterns and determine their associations with metabolic syndrome in Puerto Rico, and 3) narrate experiences in climate resilience among smallholder farmers to inform sustainable island food system re-localization. Findings pointed to the capacity of neo-traditional, plant-sourced diets in Puerto Rico and similar island settings to minimize environmental harm, preserve food cultures, and augment cardiometabolic health. Neo-traditional food systems leverage local landscapes and tight-knit social networks to make small-scale agriculture nutritious, sustainable, and climate resilient. Multisectoral approaches are needed to reduce highly processed, unsustainable food supplies in small islands. Ultimately, these efforts must leverage collection action and local food cultures to reclaim a more equitable, sustainable, and community-owned food system.