UNEP | Towards a “Great Food Transformation”

Unsustainable food systems are threatening human health and environmental sustainability. We need to change the way we farm—and our diets.

There are more of us, we’re getting wealthier, and we’re demanding more protein-rich foods, such as meat. In the long run, this is simply not sustainable.

Unhealthy and unsustainably produced food poses a global risk to people and the planet, says a new study by the EAT-Lancet Commission. More than 820 million people are undernourished and many more consume an unhealthy diet that contributes to premature death. Global food production is the largest pressure caused by humans on Earth, threatening local ecosystems and the stability of the Earth system, it says.

Current dietary trends, combined with projected population growth to about 10 billion by 2050, will exacerbate risks to people and planet. The effects of food production on greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, biodiversity loss, and water and land are reducing the stability of the Earth’s ecosystems.

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