According to new research by environmental scientists, if everyone adheres to the EAT-Lancet diet, it could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17%.
Previous studies have shown that diets high in animal fats and trans fats can lead to health issues such as cardiovascular disease, and that livestock farming emits more greenhouse gases than growing vegetables. Therefore, health experts often recommend eating less meat and more vegetables.
The EAT-Lancet Commission suggests that people need to change their eating habits towards consuming more vegetables – (Photo: EAT-Lancet Commission).
In this new study, a group of environmental scientists from various organizations around the world aimed to quantify the benefits that the Earth would receive if people followed the above recommendations.
To estimate the changes in emissions from dietary shifts, the team constructed a scenario in which people in every country adhered to the EAT-Lancet diet. The results indicated that emissions from this global diet would decrease by 17% compared to levels in 2019.
Through their analysis, they also discovered that 56.9% of the global population consumes food in excess, with meat and dairy making up a significant portion of their diets. The team noted that if all these over-consumers switched to the EAT-Lancet diet, greenhouse gas emissions related to food production could decrease by 32.4%.
The researchers also analyzed the distribution of greenhouse gas emissions associated with 140 food products consumed in 139 countries to assess the uneven distribution of emissions from diets in these countries.
A planetary diet rich in vegetables and low in meat and fish – (Photo: goodrx.com).
They found that within countries, higher spending groups tend to generate more greenhouse gas emissions from their diets due to higher consumption of red meat and dairy. This was particularly evident in low-income countries.
The EAT-Lancet diet is a planetary health diet developed by the EAT-Lancet Commission in 2019. This diet is designed to create a global model in which food production can meet the needs of 10 billion people by 2050, thereby reducing deaths from hunger and malnutrition while preventing the collapse of the natural world.
The EAT-Lancet diet is similar to vegetarianism but allows for small amounts of dairy products and animal proteins such as fish, eggs, and meat. The research team noted that Western countries, where meat consumption is highest, will need to make the most significant changes.
