- 5 tips for sustainable eating (Harvard School of Public Health)
- Consider that, for example, livestock production – which includes meat, milk and eggs – contributes 40 percent of global agricultural gross domestic product, and uses one-third of the world’s fresh water (1). As one article put it, “There may be no other single human activity that has a bigger impact on the planet than the raising of livestock.”
- 8 Tips to Make Your Eating Habits More Sustainable (Healthline)
- Sustainable eating is simply a dietary pattern that considers both the body and the environmental impacts,” Best says. “This pattern seeks the least negative effects on both and food sources that improve health and the environment when able.”
- Sustainable eating involves consuming food that has a low environmental impact. It’s largely plant-based and can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and chronic diseases in humans.
- 10 Steps to Climate-Friendly EatingÂ
- A recent study of worldwide vegeÂtable production found that if the output of greenhouse gases continues to grow at its current rate, harvest yields could drop 35 percent within the next 80 years, largely because of water shortages.
- Small farms are more climate friendly than mega-monoculture operations. More-diverse crops help build topsoil, and it’s easier to manage pests and weeds without chemicals on a human-scale farm.
- Yet cattle feeding on grassy pastures as opposed to dirt-packed feedlots not only produce far less methane, Salatin says, but they also contribute to soil bacteria that actually capture some methane from the atmosphere. Grass-finished beef does require more land than feedlot beef, but it uses less water. And the manure in the pastures helps rebuild topsoil, a carbon-sequestering resource that’s fast disappearing.
- A Consensus on Food, Farming and Nature (WWF)
- A healthy natural environment underpins food security. Farming does not just produce the food we eat but is also central to efforts to tackle the nature, climate, and public health crises.
- Diversity – in nature, in farming systems and amongst those involved in farming – along with diversity in farm animals and crops, will enable resilience and innovation in the face of climate change and economic challenges.
- It is vital to find common ground and show solidarity across farming, food, and environmental interests so that policy makers and supply chain actors can have the confidence to act in ways that will support a vibrant future for food, farming, and nature, in service of our citizens.Â
- Can you eat to save the climate?) (World Economic Forum)
- There’s a growing interest in climate-friendly foods, but consumers find it hard to know if the food choices they make are environmentally sustainable; (World Economic Forum)
- From ready-made snacks to algae, cacti and grains, options for climate beneficial foods are increasing;
- With better supply chain structures, food producers can have greater access to these ingredients too
- EAT-Lancet Commission Brief for Everyone (EAT-Lancet)
- A diet that includes more plant-based foods and fewer animal source foods is healthy, sustainable, and good for both people and planet. It is not a question of all or nothing, but rather small changes for a large and positive impact.
- Today, agriculture occupies nearly 40% of global land, making agroecosystems the largest terrestrial ecosystems on the planet. Food production is responsible for up to 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 70% of freshwater use. Land conversion for food production is the single most important driver of biodiversity loss.
- The food we eat, the ways we produce it, and the amounts wasted or lost have major impacts on human health and environmental sustainability. Getting it right with food will be an important way for countries to achieve the targets of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
- Food and Climate Change: Healthy diets for a healthier planet (United Nations)
- Where appropriate, shifting food systems towards plant-rich diets – with more plant protein (such as beans, chickpeas, lentils, nuts, and grains), a reduced amount of animal-based foods (meat and dairy) and less saturated fats (butter, milk, cheese, meat, coconut oil and palm oil) – can lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions compared to current dietary patterns in most industrialized countries.
- Food Systems and Agriculture (MIT)
- Short webpage article about how climate affects agriculture and how the food system contributes to climate change
- The planet’s growing population and food consumption will require food production to increase by 70% by 2050.2 At the same time, the production, storage, and transport of food causes greenhouse gas emissions which contribute to climate change.
- Food systems account for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions (United Nations)
- China, Indonesia, the United States of America, Brazil, the European Union and India are the top emitters.
- Production processes, which includes inputs such as fertilizers, are the leading contributor to overall food-system emissions, or 39 per cent of the total. Land use accounts for 38 per cent and distribution contributes 29 per cent, which is expected to continue growing. Methane from livestock raising and rice cultivation accounts for 35 per cent of food system greenhouse gas emissions and is broadly the same in both developed and developing countries.
- Emissions from fluorinated greenhouse gases, used in refrigeration, for example, have had a “turbocharged effect on global warming”, according to the authors. Globally, the figure is around five percent of global food-system emissions, but is expected to increase.
- Packaging also accounts for a similar share of the emissions, or some 5.4 per cent, which is more than transportation or other supply-chain factors.
- From farm to fork: How food systems can power climate action (United Nations)
- “Shifting to regenerative, carbon-absorbing production and adoption of healthy, predominantly plant-based diets that are affordable and accessible, as well as halving food waste and loss, are crucial actions that must be included in countries’ NDCs and integrated in their climate action plans with clear ambitions”
- Future of Food: Exploring Challenges to Global Food Systems (Columbia Climate School)
- Great overview of issues with Global Food Systems
- When food is wasted, so are the energy, land, and resources that were used to create it. Nearly 23% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions between 2007-2016 were derived from agriculture, forestry and other land uses. Apart from cultivation and livestock rearing, agriculture also adds emissions through land clearance for cultivation. Overfishing, soil erosion, and depletion and deterioration of aquifers threaten food security. At the same time, food production faces increasing risks from climate change — particularly droughts, increasing frequency of storms, and other extreme weather events.
- Â Â Meat, dairy and rice production will bust 1.5C climate target, shows study (The Guardian)
- Emissions from food alone, ignoring the huge impact of fossil fuels, would push the world past the 1.5C limit.
- 75% of this food-related heating was driven by foods that are high sources of methane, ie those coming from ruminant livestock such as cattle, and rice paddy fields. However, the scientists said the temperature rise could be cut by 55% by cutting meat consumption in rich countries to medically recommended levels, reducing emissions from livestock and their manure, and using renewable energy in the food system.
- 57% of emissions from the food system arise from animal agriculture,Â
- Plant-based diets could save millions of lives and dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions (Oxford Martin School)
- A global switch to diets that rely less on meat and more on fruit and vegetables could save up to 8 million lives by 2050, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two thirds, and lead to healthcare-related savings and avoided climate damages of $1.5 trillion (US) , Oxford Martin School researchers have found.
- Plant-Based Diet: Healthier for Us and Our Planet (NRDC)
- To keep the increase of climate warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C) from pre-industrial levels, the United Nations’ Special Report on Climate Change and Land emphasizes the importance of a less resource-intensive diet. If global temperature rises to 2°C (compared to 1.5°C) it will exacerbate unsustainable agriculture through: reduced cereal crop yield, spread of disease, and water and nutrition shortage for livestock. [1]
- The broken food system is driven by consumer demand—so we have the power to change it. The good news is that the American diet has already, over the course of the past 45 years, been shifting towards less eggs, milk, and beef.[2] By further reducing consumption, supporting environmentally and socially conscious products, and abandoning purchases such as red meat or unsustainably caught seafood, we can radically shape the future health of the planet.
- Sustainable Diet: How to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Your Food (Earth.org)
- This article aims to provide a clear guide for consumers to understand what factors determine the carbon footprint of specific food and to distinguish greenwashing from authentic and sustainable food products
- Sustainable Diets: What You Need to Know in 12 Charts (World Resources Institute)
- Global average per person protein consumption exceeded dietary requirements in all regions in 2009, with each person consuming on average about 68 grams per day— one-third higher than the average daily adult requirement. In wealthy countries, protein consumption was higher still. For example, the average American man eats nearly 100 grams of protein per day, almost double the amount of protein he needs (56 g).
- Beef production requires 20 times more land and emits 20 times more greenhouse gas emissions per unit of edible protein than common plant-based protein sources such as beans, peas and lentils…When it comes to resource use and environmental impacts, the type of food eaten matters as much, if not more, than how that food is produced.
- What is a FoodPrint and Why Should I Care about Mine? (FoodPrint.org)
- Your “foodprint” is the result of everything it takes to get your food from the farm to your plate. Many of those processes are invisible to the public. But it doesn’t take much to learn a little bit more about where your food comes from and how it got to you, or to learn how to choose products and practices that do less harm to the environment, animals and people.
- Which food is better for the planet? (Washington Post)
- Agriculture is both a major cause and a casualty of water scarcity around the globe.
- “It’s more efficient to grow plants for humans to eat than it is to use them for animal feed. “
- “Wheat is cultivated across hundreds of millions of acres globally, causing a massive ecological footprint”
- “Agriculture and fishing typically displace native animals and plants from their habitats. The new research quantifies this habitat disturbance”
REFERENCES: CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SUSTAINABLE DIETS/FOOD SYSTEMS, CLIMATE CHANGE, ENV’T & HUMAN HEALTH
Research about “sustainable diets” and connecting our food and agriculture system to climate change and environmental degradation and human health.
