Tastes of sustainability: a regional journey through Chilean traditional diets

Abstract

Traditional diets are generally associated with health benefits and are commonly recommended in food-based dietary guidelines. As climate change intensifies in the 21st century, food-based dietary guidelines have begun integrating environmental sustainability considerations. Despite growing global efforts to incorporate sustainability into food-based dietary guidelines, few studies have explored how to operationalize such guidance. A multiregional participatory study was conducted with adults from the central urban metropolitan area and the La Araucanía Region, in southern Chile, using semistructured interviews combined with card-sorting activities. The most commonly consumed and preferred traditional culinary preparations from each region were presented on cards and sorted according to participants’ perceptions across five dimensions of sustainable diets. In both regions, over 70% of participants reported physical access to most traditional culinary preparations, although economic access varied. In the Metropolitan Area, perceptions of environmental impact were more diverse, while participants in the La Araucanía Region generally viewed traditional foods as sustainable due to their natural origins. Taste preference was high across preparations; however, only fruits and salads were consumed almost daily. Only six traditional preparations scored below 60% for overall sustainability. These findings highlight important regional differences and gaps between taste preferences, perceptions of environmental sustainability, and actual consumption of sustainable traditional culinary preparations. They also demonstrate the value of participatory research in identifying sustainable and healthy food options that can support food-based dietary guidelines in territorially diverse populations.