To prevent unavoidable environmental catastrophe in the wake of burgeoning population, climate change and biodiversity loss, scientists have called for change in the current diet trends across the globe — cut down consumption of red meat and sugar by half and double your intake of nuts, fruits, vegetables, and legumes by 2050.
The EAT-Lancet Commission study released on Thursday also said that fossil fuels should be eliminated in agricultural production, which should prevent further losses to biodiversity, and bring about improvements in fertiliser and water use efficiency.
The study which was funded by the Wellcome Trust and EAT (specifically funding from the Wellcome Trust and Stordalen Foundation) said that daily dietary pattern of a planetary health
diet should consists of approximately 35% of calories as whole grains and tubers, protein sources mainly from plants — but including approximately 14g of red meat per day — and 500g per day of vegetables and fruits.
Consumption is expected to increase as the global population grows to 10 billion by 2050 while it will also become wealthier, with an expectation that more animal-based foods will be consumed as a result.
But without change, current trends will lead to climate change, biodiversity loss, increased pollution, and unsustainable changes in water and land use.
“The food we eat and how we produce it determines the health of people and the planet, and we are currently getting this seriously wrong,” says one of the study’s authors, Professor Tim Lang of the City, University of London.
“We need a significant overhaul, changing the global food system on a scale not seen before in ways appropriate to each country’s circumstances.”
The findings represent the first scientific targets for healthy diets via sustainable food production systems, which operate within the planet’s ability to produce food and promotes diets consisting of a variety of plant-based foods, with low amounts of animal-based foods, refined grains, highly processed foods, and added sugars, and with unsaturated rather than saturated fats.
Using these targets, the report’s authors modelled various scenarios to develop a sustainable food system and deliver healthy diets by 2050.
They found that major dietary changes, improved food production processes and reduced food waste are needed for planet to continue to be sustainable, and added that no single measure on its own would be enough to stay within the limits.
They added that global collaboration would also be required, such as
changes to the agriculture industry to focus on more varied nutrient-rich crops and increased governance of land and ocean use.
“Humanity now poses a threat to the stability of the planet. Sustainability of the food system must therefore be defined from a planetary perspective,” said the study’s co-lead, Commissioner Professor Johan Rockström.
“There is no silver bullet for combatting harmful food production practices, but by defining and quantifying a safe operating space for food systems, diets can be identified that will nurture human health and support environmental sustainability.” The Stockholm Resilience Centre was the scientific coordinator of the report.
