Issue

The primary aim of the paper is to conduct a sustainability assessment for quinoa foods. Quinoa is a whole grain food with fiber, vitamins, and proteins. Thus, the demand for food has been increased from time to time. So, in response to the needs, farmers have been seeking for lands to expand their farming to have an amplified production. Encroaching the land for increased agriculture has been a threat to the environment thus being a sustainability failure for the quinoa food farming. Despite there being available land for agriculture, there are rules and regulations in preserving the environment thus being a challenge for quinoa farmers as they seek land for expansion. Therefore, quinoa farming is unsustainable in the current period as the demand surpasses the supply.

Desired outcomes

With the rise in demand, there needs to be a responsive mechanism to cater for the rising markets. Therefore, as the demand for quinoa increases, farmers are expected to have responsive measures to satisfy the requirement in the market.  As this happens, they look for new lands to expand their farming activities for quinoa. As expansion increases, more land has encroached, many displaced as well as deforestation cases. Clearing of more land has exposed the environment to various environmental hazards such as soil erosion, global warming, droughts among others. Monotony in planting quinoa has also resulted in soil nutrients depletion due to continuous and repeated farming of a single crop. Farmers have resulted in farming using insecticides to boost their crop production.  Therefore, increases use of chemicals is not ecologically viable.

Economically, quinoa foods are not economical. As demand for quinoa increases, farmers have been forced to invest a lot in the production where machines and chemicals are used thus increases costs of production. With a primary focus on profitability, farmers are forced to sell the products at high prices which reaches the consumers at much higher cost. Additionally, due to their high nutritional level, the food products are sold at a higher cost as substitutes to other foods offered in the market. However, quinoa foods are socially viable due to their high nutritional content.  Quinoa has been used for different purposes in the society such as weight loss, nutritional values for extreme cases such as in children and the elderly among others. Therefore, due to their diverse uses in society, quinoa foods are socially viable.

Sustainability Decision-Making Protocol

Quinoa foods sustainability decision-making protocol generates the basis of differentiating available alternatives while assessing their acceptability criteria.