Welcome to the PlanEATary Quest!
Promoting planetary health, one bite at a time.
You are about to embark on a delicious, choose-your-own-adventure challenge to learn how we, as individuals, can create a more sustainable food system and improve the health of our planet for current and future generations.
Our global food system is contributing approximately one third of greenhouse gas emissions (1). Experts have called for an urgent transformation to the way food is produced and consumed (2), including a population-wide shift to healthy and sustainable diets.
The PlanEATary Quest is a fun, interactive intervention that aims to help you:
Identify how you can improve the way you're interacting with our food system to promote human and planetary health
Adopt new healthy and environmentally sustainable food habits, inspired by a supportive and collegial approach
Reflect on the factors that help or hinder your environmentally sustainable food habits
(1) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Summary for Policymakers. Climate Change and Land: an IPCC special report on climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security, and greenhouse gas fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems. 2019. Accessed: https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/ (September, 2023).
(2) Willett, W., et al., Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. The Lancet. 2019. 393(10170): p. 447-492.
STEP 1: Complete the Quiz
Complete this 12-question PlanEATary Quiz to see where you're kicking goals, and where you can improve your current dietary behaviours.
STEP 2: Design your Challenge
Select 3 – 10 tasks from this resource of over 100 tasks that will help you improve your score. We suggest focusing on the questions where you scored the lowest on the Quiz. If you'd like to document your chosen tasks, complete this declaration form.
STEP 3: Complete your Challenge
Time to get your hands dirty! Spend 2-3 weeks completing your chosen tasks. As you go, you may like to reflect on what helps or hinders your quest for planetary health (see below).
STEP 4: Repeat the Quiz
Complete this post-challenge PlanEATary Quiz to see whether you've improved your score, and are interacting with our food system in a more sustainable way.
REFLECT: Tell us how you went!
We'd love to learn about your journey on the PlanEATary Quest!
Please write a short reflection, thinking about the factors that helped or hindered your ability to complete the challenge. For example:
Your own motivation to change?
Your household - the people and living environment?
Your community?
Your Local Government Authority? (eg. Any initiatives that promote more environmentally sustainable eating practices)
Your State or Territory Government?
If you would like to share your short reflection with us, we'd love to read it. Please submit your writing HERE.
BACKGROUND: How was the PlanEATary Quest developed?
The PlanEATary Quest was first developed by Dietitians Australia's Food and Environment Interest Group in 2009, then known as the 'Eco-Friendly Food Challenge' (EFFC). Acknowledgements to Barbara Radcliffe for leading this project. This was a 4-week, structured challenge that prompted participants to complete (i) a bin audit to measure food-related waste destined for landfill, (ii) a visit to a local farmets market to promote connection with primary producers, (iii) a pantry audit to identify local VS imported items, and (iv) a recipe challenge to encourage the use of plant-derived proteins. This resource was used as a tool to promote healthy and sustainable dietary behaviours amongst dietitians, and was used as an assessment task by many educators involved in teaching our future dietetic workforce, including Monash University, Deakin University, University of Tasmania and University of Wollongong.
In 2022, Dr Liza Barbour and Sandy Murray successfully applied for a grant from the International Congress of Dietetic Associations, as part of their Sustainable Food Systems Toolkit. All members of Dietitians Australia's Food & Environment Interest Group's Leadership Committee were invited to join a small working group to implement this project. Nicole Senior, Sara Forbes, Nathan Cook, Grace Zadow and Aimee Bowles took this opportunity and met with Liza and Sandy every 4-6 weeks from September 2022 - September 2023 to revamp the EFFC to reflect current evidence. A graphic designer was engaged to develop a brand identity, and the PlanEATary Quest was born!
The PlanEATary Quest is intended to promote self-reflection about the way we interact with our food system, and a shift towards more environmentally sustainable practices. Intended initially for the nutrition and dietetic workforce, this resource will be expanded for use by other health professionals, workforces, the general public and ultimately children and young people.
Dr Liza Barbour
Monash University
This resource was developed by this dedicated Working Group of seven volunteers, all dietitians and members of DA's Food & Environment Leadership Committee. This project was funded by a grant from the International Congress of Dietetic Associations (ICDA) and led by grant applicants Dr Liza Barbour and Sandy Murray.
We would like to acknowledge and thank Monash University dietetic students, Zi Wong, Jingjun (Phoebe) Wu, Wancin (Wendy) Tan, Halle Yip and Jessica Gleeson, and their supervisors Kathy Faulkner, Stacey Holden and Stefanie Carino for piloting this intervention with the wonderful team at Eastern Health in Victoria.
For further information about the resources, intervention and evaluation, please contact: liza.barbour@monash.edu
Sandy Murray
University of Tasmania
Nicole Senior
Sara Forbes
Nathan Cook
Aimee Bowles
Grace Zadow