Nutritional, environmental and socio-economic assessment of several dietary menus; to move towards a sustainable development of agricultural practices and nutritional recommendations. – AGRALID

There are a strong relation between the quality of feed dietary fat ingested by animal and fatty acids that are deposited in the meat or milk. This relationship is used to introduce in animal feed fatty acids considered good for human health. This nutritional strategy is already in practice. In AGRALID project we will try to increase the digestibility and feed efficiency of n-3 fatty acids lipids sources by improving the technology of extrusion of linseed and/or using dehulled seeds. We also test new sources of n-3 fatty acids by the incorporation in the diet of microalgae rich in long chain n-3 fatty acids (DHA identical to that provided by fat fish). As part of WP2, these lipid sources will be tested in pigs, broiler chickens, laying hens and dairy cows. In WP3, we analyze the life cycles and the environmental impact of food production components menus proposed in WP1. The acceptability of these products by the producer, the consumer, the transformer and the user (catering) will be studied from a sociological perspective while incorporating an economic component (WP 4 and 5).

Major project results after 30 months of progress.

Recently, it is mainly the WP2, 3, 4 and 5 that have provided results.
WP2, original results have been shown for the DHA provided by microalgae. There is a relation between the quantity of DHA ingested and the amount deposited in the meat and eggs. The proportion used in peroxisomal energy metabolism seems to be fairly insignificant, contrary to existing bibliographical data. These data will be used to establish predictive equations of ALA and DHA deposition according to the products sought by industrialists and consumers.
In ruminants, the DHA consumed via microalgae is also found in the milk. The quantity of trans fatty acids also increases. But, because of poor zootechnical performances, the assessment of DHA use remains negative and will not contribute to guidelines for use in livestock farming.
WP3. Creation of the data base of the impacts of standard raw materials at the level of the feed consumed.
WP4. 51 farms have been selected and interviewed in the Brittany and Pays-de-la-Loire regions.
WP5 Preliminary results confirm the importance of the hedonic (vs nutritional) factor in the choice of foodstuffs by the French, and their preference for local products and for products that have attributes enabling the producers to be identified.

6 months after the beginning, the prospect are those describe in the initial project and are therefore very close to objective. Based on the results, perspectives certainly evolve.

J. Mourot, JY Dourmad, H Van der Werf, C Hurtaud, R Le Guen, M Merdji, B Schmitt, J Thornes, G Chesneau, N Kerhoas, P Weill. Are dietary recommendations for fatty acid sustainable? BNS/NS/SFN Joint Meeting. Sustainable Diet and Food Security Lille, 28-29 May 2013

Two presentations of the AGRALID project to the Health Committee and the Meat Committee of VALORIAL

AGRALID project involves a multidisciplinary team of 9 partners (INRA PEGASE, INRA URA and PEAT, INRA SAS, LARESS-ESA, LESMA-Audencia, Bleu Blanc Coeur, Valorex, Terrena, and CERNh Développement).

The project focuses on developing a tool to help define the best dietary strategies that conciliate human health, animal welfare, agricultural biodiversity, and environmental impacts of food production.

The project is centred on the consumer whose eating habits are quite pervasively present. The main objective of the project is to offer the consumer:
1/ A better access to more balanced food, especially regarding lipid content in products of animal origin with a focus on restoring a good balance between Omega 3 (n-3 FAs) and Omega 6 (n-6 FAs), diminishing saturated fatty acids, altogether with a better consideration of the environmental impact.
2/ An optimization guide for eating practices that will bring the consumer solutions, only slightly modifying his eating habits, to strike a good balance regarding the three dimensions: environment, nutrition and cost.

Starting with defined weekly menus, representatives of the eating habits of the french population, the project will establish a database on the threedimensional impact (nutrition, environment and socio-economy) of the food items that constitute those menus.

As it is extremely difficult to change consumer habits, the project focuses on food items quality, more specifically on food items of animal origin, as those are the most impacting on nutrition, environment and socio-economy.
Thus, the project will propose and analyse diverses solutions to optimize agricultural products of animal origin, experimenting new feed sources and the acceptation by the producers of the agricultural practices associated.
The three dimensional impact of those optimized food items will be measured and integrated in the database.

Using multivariate statistics the project will position the original weekly menus, with or without optimized food items, with regard to soci-economic perception (consumer and producer point of view), nutritional quality and environmental impact.

Using linear programming, the project will extend this analysis to other types of menus, thus developping a decision making tool or an optimization guide that will position diverse menus on three cursors: the environmental cursor, the nutritionnal cursor and the socio-economic cursor.

This tool will not only address the consumer but also all other actors of the food chain: farmers; national authorities, actors of the food transformation industry; actors from the catering sector.