Chapter 5: Rewilding Human Nutrition Through Agroecological Farming for Advancing the UNSDGs

Agriculture is a major driver of climate change whose effects demand prompt transformations in food production. Thus, rewilding human nutrition is proposed as an approach to align dietary practices with sustainable development, in line with key sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Purpose: This review chapter aims at synthesizing current literature about rewilding diets to spur environmental health, food security, and sovereignty, while highlighting limits for achieving a balance between resource use and farming.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Bibliographic sources were collected by employing the Google Scholar database, which allowed the investigator to:

• Classify this review around two compelling themes that link nutrition and agriculture to specific United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and the planetary boundaries, within which food production should take place.

• Showcase strategies and constraints of rewilding human nutrition.

• Identify possible research gaps that may further enhance the study of rewilding human nutrition.

Findings: The findings suggest that overcoming deep-rooted dietary habits or food neophobia, and addressing socioeconomic disparities, while ensuring agroecosystem conservation, remain barriers that require immediate attention. Implementing integrated policy frameworks that support more ardently agroecological farming practices, promote change in consumers’ behavior, and foster innovation in food production and distribution, while reducing waste, calls for urgent action. Rewilding human nutrition offers promising pathways for advancing specific SDGs by realigning human diets with ecosystems.

Practical Implications: The interconnectedness among achievements gained by rewilding nutrition and keystone SDGs is highlighted, whereas coordinated efforts across governments, industry, education, and society are recommended to strengthen collaborative actions in long-term partnership, to ensure human and planetary health, while constraining agriculture within planetary boundaries.