Australian Dietary Guidelines for Adults - Essay Example

"Australian Dietary Guidelines for Adults" is an engrossing example of a paper on food and nutrition. The critical role played by the Australian Dietary Guidelines for Adults (ADGA) is of advising Australian adults on how to eat well in a manner that minimizes the chances of weight gain and developing diseases associated with poor eating habits. The food to be eaten has to be availed and this should be done in a way that the environment is unharmed and more importantly the types of food needed can be produced in a sustainable manner (Gussow, 1999). Key issues are to produce highly nutritious food productively and profitably while in the same breath exerting minimal interference to the environment and the efficient use of water in order to preserve the available water and minimize waste.

            In order to produce food in a sustainable manner and profitably, several issues come into play. This includes the weather patterns and how it influences the season of various foodstuffs, the availability of water for agricultural use and minimal use of chemicals in farms in order to reduce their persistence in the environment. Water is not only important for agricultural issues. Water is critical for the well being of both adults and young human beings.  Australia has the highest water use level in agriculture only standing at 74% of its national water use. It then is important to recycle water use in an effort to promote good use of water.

            The ADGA suggests that Adults eat a variety of nutritious food in order to stay healthy. But then what actually influences the consumer is their financial ability, their level of knowledge on available food that is nutrition and their personal tastes and preferences (Bernstein, & Luggen, 2009). Any adult will only food that he or she can afford and is fully aware of the health benefits he or she stands to gain, though some people tend to buy food because it is what they buy. It is important that the ADGA advises adults on the importance of changing their food habits by embracing various other highly nutritious food that they do not normally feed on. This will reduce to a great extent the over-reliance on one type of food for food, and introduce an aspect of food diversity which is important for any adult who is keen on having a healthy diet. Increasing the diversity of food consumed increases the nutritional range of and individual and promotes wellness (Zand, LaValle, & Spreen, 1999).

            The level of knowledge required is high because for there to be the formulation and implementation of certain guidelines that will dictate the mode of production of food in a sustainable manner, then expert has to come in and offer critical advice and spearhead this initiative. Production of food sustainably is not the only priority in this case; also the efficient use of water should be encouraged. This will allow for the continuous supply of clean and safe water to drink. The knowledgeable individuals should then mount a public awareness program to sensitize the adults on the importance of changing food eating patterns and embracing food diversity.

            Some guidelines for sustainability include eating a variety of food which minimizes over-reliance on one particular food, eating adequate amounts of food so as to minimize waste of food and consequently reduce the overall demand on food, the recycling of use water in order to reduce the demand exerted by the large population on the available water resources and the overall conservation of the environment in order to maintain the ecological system as intact as possible and to allow all the biological processes to continue uninterrupted. This will promote the production of a diverse array of food in a sustainable manner.

            In conclusion, it is possible to produce food sustainably and to maintain the efficient use of available water so that every individual, not the adults-only can access water and live a better and healthier life.

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