“What we eat matters not just for our health, but for the planet, too. Yet only a handful of pioneering governments have issued guidelines promoting “win-win” diets that can help tackle two of the most urgent challenges of our time: securing good nutrition for all and addressing climate change.”
This is a key finding from a new study by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN) at the University of Oxford published recently.
The “Plates, Pyramids, Planet” report evaluates government-issued food guidelines from across the globe, looking in particular at whether they make links to environmental sustainability in addition to promoting good eating habits. At the time the study was conducted, only four countries’ recommendations – Brazil, Germany, Sweden and Qatar – drew connections to the threats posed by modern food production systems and the dietary patterns that drive them.
Two more – the Netherlands and the United Kingdom- have since taken steps to incorporate environmental considerations into their food guidelines.
But the low number of countries overall signals a real missed opportunity for many countries to promote diets and food systems that are not only healthy but sustainable, the study argues.
Poor dietary habits, rich in meat and foods that are high in sugar and fat and low in whole grains, fruits and vegetables have been closely linked to non-communicable diseases —a leading cause of premature death, not only in high-income countries but also many parts of the developing world. These diets are typically not only unhealthy, but environmentally unsustainable.
“Growing numbers of people now understand that diets rich in whole-grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables — with reduced consumption of meat and smaller quantities of high-fat and high-sugar foods — are good for our bodies.
There is also ample evidence showing that such diets have much lower environmental impacts than the unhealthy and unsustainable eating patterns that are increasingly prevalent today,” explains lead author Carlos Gonzales-Fischer of FCRN. “So by eating well for our own personal health, we’re also doing right by the planet – in essence, it’s a win-win.”
“Between the new Sustainable Development Goals –the SDGs — and the Paris climate agreement, the international community is making a clear push to position sustainability at the heart of planning and decision making,” adds Anna Lartey, Director of FAO’s Nutrition and Food Systems Division.
