Beyond Eating Right: The Emergence of Civic Dietetics to Foster Health and Sustainability Through Food System Change

Evidence about the relationship between diet and health is central to professional nutrition practice. A growing number of food and nutrition professionals recognize critical relationships among public health, environmental quality, agricultural practices, community well-being, food security, and policy. Integrating food system issues into professional practice represents a fundamental transition and calls for a new framework. Drawing from Thomas Lyson's work on civic agriculture, we propose civic dietetics to describe the integration of food system awareness into professional practice. We provide evidence of the emergence of civic dietetics and describe challenges to and strategies for its development and integration into practice.