An international team of scientists has developed a diet purported to improve health while ensuring sustainable food production, according to CNN.
The Planetary Health Diet cuts consumption of red meat and sugar in half and ups the intake of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. It allows for an average of 2,500 calories per day. Meat isn’t entirely removed—one beef burger and two servings of fish per week are allowed, as are a glass of milk or some cheese or butter each day. That said, half of each plate is vegetables and fruit, and a third is wholegrain cereals.
The study, titled “Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems” by Walter Willett et al, was published in The Lancet. And according to The Guardian, it would save at least 11 million people per year from deaths caused by unhealthy food, while preventing the collapse of the natural world.
The Guardian quoted John Rockström, another author of the report, as saying, “Humanity now poses a threat to the stability of the planet. This requires nothing less than a new global agricultural revolution.”
CNN quoted Howard Frumkin, head of UK biomedical research charity The Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet Our Health program, as saying, “This provides governments, producers and individuals with an evidence-based starting point to work together to transform our food systems and cultures.”
CNN notes that 1 billion people live in hunger, and 2 billion people eat too much of the wrong foods.