Flaminia Ortenzi

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)

Flaminia Ortenzi is a Nutrition, Food Systems, and Global Health researcher experienced in developing holistic and innovative solutions for healthy and sustainable diets, with focus on nutrient profiling, environmental and affordability metrics.

Presentation:
Measuring what matters: How functional units and local context reshape sustainable diet narratives

Key Points:
• Switching from mass- or energy-based to nutritional functional units significantly affects foods’ sustainability rankings.
• This presentation challenges the simplistic ‘plant vs. animal’ product dichotomy by showing data on nutritionally and environmentally efficient animal-source foods, alongside resource-intensive plant-based options.
• Case studies will demonstrate the primacy of geographic context, agroecological conditions, and production systems in driving environmental performance of both plant and animal products.
• Important trade-offs exist between impact categories, such as climate change versus water use, underlining the ecological importance of traditional food pairings.