A new report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization shows that low-fat terrestrial animal source foods – mostly dairy products, eggs and meat – are often unavailable in small stores serving marginalized communities.
A TASF is any food containing or derived from land animals. The report estimates one-third of the world’s food supply is either lost or wasted, including 14% of TASFs; these figures equate to an approximate loss of $936 billion worldwide.
Even though the net supply of TASFs increased from 1961-2022, the time period for the study, per capita availability of bovine meat has either remained constant or decreased. TASFs are more expensive based on income distribution in low and middle-income countries. The report recognizes these factors as regional disparities.
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The United States, New Zealand and the European Union make up almost a third of all international trade for animal products, while 85% of TASFs are produced locally.
The report listed major disconnects between research and policy. In the literature, there was no distinction made between unprocessed and processed TASFs and there is a lack of research on the desirability of certain types of TASFs.
The report combines the research from 217 studies – 83 from the United States – and it implements a One Health approach, meaning that the health of humans, animals and the environment are all interdependent and should be treated as such. The report notes the over-emphasis on high-income countries in the literature, as 127 of the studies were from the food environments of high-income countries.
