Part Four / What We’ve Done About It

4.12 The Calorie Question

All online sources accessed on

  1. They produce 30 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions Crippa, M., et al., ‘Food systems are responsible for a third of global anthropogenic GHG emissions’, Nature Food, 2 (3), 2021: 198–209, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00225-9.

    occupy 40 per cent of Earth’s land surface Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, ‘Food and agriculture data’, FAOSTAT, 2019, https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/RL.

    use at least 70 per cent of Earth’s fresh water Molden, D., ed., Water for Food, Water for Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture (London and Colombo: Earthscan and the International Water Management Institute, 2007).

    the leading driver of biodiversity loss and nutrient pollution Tilman D., et al., ‘Future threats to biodiversity and pathways to their prevention’, Nature, 546 (7656), 2017: 73–81, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature22900; Vitousek, P. M., et al., ‘Human domination of Earth’s ecosystems’, Science, 277 (5325), 1997: 494–9, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.277.5325.494.

    a major source of poor health and nutrition Afshin, A., et al., ‘Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017’, Lancet, 393 (10184), 2019: 1958–72, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30041-8; Domingo, N. G. G., et al., ‘Air quality-related health damages of food’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118 (20), 2021: Article e2013637118, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2013637118.

    The environmental impact of individual foods varies considerably Poore, J., and Nemecek, T., ‘Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers’, Science, 360 (6392), 2018: 987–92, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaq0216.

  2. evidence across nearly 40,000 farms Ibid.

    diets are transitioning to include more food Tilman, D., et al., ‘Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108 (50), 2011: 20260–64, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1116437108.

    average consumption per person per day has increased Clark, M., et al., ‘The role of healthy diets in environmentally sustainable food systems’, Food Nutrition Bulletin, 41 (2) supplement, 2020: S31–S58, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0379572120953734.

    wealthy nations bear the largest responsibility Springmann, M., et al., ‘Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits’, Nature, 562 (7728), 2018: 519–25, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-018-0594-0.

  3. food systems will surpass environmental sustainability targets Ibid.; Clark, M. A., et al., ‘Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5°C and 2°C climate change targets’, Science, 370 (6517), 2020: 705–8, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba7357.

    we will pass 1.5°C of warming Clark et al., ‘Global food system emissions’.

    The additional land needed to meet future food production Williams, D. R., et al., ‘Proactive conservation to prevent habitat losses to agricultural expansion’, Nature Sustainability, 4 (4), 2021: 314–22, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-00656-5.

    a more plant-based diet … 50–70 per cent Springmann et al., ‘Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits’; Clark et al., ‘Global food system emissions’; Willett, W., et al., ‘Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’, Lancet, 393 (10170), 2019: 447–92, https://doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4; Tilman, D., and Clark, M., ‘Global diets link environmental sustainability and human health’, Nature 515, (7528), 2014: 518–22, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13959; Springmann, M., et al., ‘Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change’, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113 (15), 2016: 4146–51, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1523119113.

  4. benefits to other aspects of the environment Springmann et al., ‘Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits’.

    a third of all food produced is not consumed Gustavsson, J., et al., Global Food Losses and Food Waste: Extent, Causes and Prevention, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2011, https://www.fao.org/3/mb060e/mb060e00.htm.

    unlikely that we will meet the 1.5°C climate target Springmann et al., ‘Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits’; Clark, M. A., et al., ‘Global food system emissions’; Leclère, D., et al., ‘Bending the curve of terrestrial biodiversity needs an integrated strategy’, Nature, 585 (7826), 2020: 551–6, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2705-y.

    the most environmentally sustainable foods are among the healthiest Clark, M., et al., ‘Multiple health and environmental impacts of foods’, Proceedings of the National Sciences, 116 (46), 2019: 23357–62, https://www.pnas.org/content/116/46/23357; van Dooren, C., et al., ‘Proposing a novel index reflecting both climate impact and nutritional impact of food products’, Ecological Economics, 131, 2017: 389–98, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.08.029.

    reduce global premature mortality by 10 per cent Springmann, M., et al., ‘Health and nutritional aspects of sustainable diet strategies and their association with environmental impacts: a global modelling analysis with country-level detail’, Lancet Planetary Health, 2 (10), 2018: e451–e461, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(18)30206-7.