A major report on the global food system has found that less than 1 per cent of the world is eating a diet that's good for the planet and human health.
But switching to a healthier eating pattern could prevent up to 15 million premature deaths per year, while cutting global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20 per cent.
These are the findings of a report by the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission. The report brings together the expertise of nutritionists, climate scientists, economists, doctors, social scientists and agriculturalists from more than 35 countries around the world.
The team assessed the impacts of the food system on human health and the environment, concluding that food production was jeopardising five Earth systems that must be kept in balance for the survival of the human race.
These five threats are the climate, land, water, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and human-made pollution such as pesticides and microplastics.
But, if the food system changed to provide us all with healthier diets, we could restore these systems to safe levels – while improving human lives.
“If everyone ate a healthy diet, we would be able to feed 10 billion people in 2050 with 7 per cent less land than we use today,” study author Dr Fabrice DeClerck, chief science officer at EAT, told BBC Science Focus. “Never in the history of human food production have we occupied less of a resource to feed more people.”
The scientists estimated that 6.9 billion people were overconsuming food – specifically, meat, dairy, sugar and ultra-processed food – while 3.7 billion people struggled to access healthy food.
So, the report recommended sticking to the Planetary Health Diet (PHD): an eating pattern that prioritised fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and wholegrains.
Half your plate would be filled with vegetables, fruits and nuts, if you were following the PHD. Then, another 30 per cent would be wholegrains – and the rest would be protein sources, prioritising legumes, such as beans, lentils and pulses.
Meat, fish and dairy foods are optional in the PHD – and there is an upper limit – but the diet is flexible. For instance, at the upper end of the range, you could eat up to 200g of beef per week and still be within the guidelines.
DeClerck added that the diet can be tailored to the individual, encouraging people to adapt it to their own cultures and preferences.
“If anything, we recognise that traditional diets are often better representations of healthiness,” he said.
As for that 1 per cent already eating within the report’s recommendations, DeClerck said the scientists were not prepared to reveal exactly where in the world these people lived, because there was a lot of variation within each country.
“But these people live in societies where you have liveable wages, where you have access to healthy diets, and they’re consuming those healthy diets,” he said.
DeClerck added: “The best examples of healthy diets often come from middle-income countries – particularly in the Mediterranean region, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.”
For those middle-income countries, said DeClerck, the challenge was to avoid transitioning towards a more Western diet, in favour of their own cultural traditions.
Many of us find thinking about the climate crisis challenging, but DeClerck said that this report offered the “amazing” opportunity to improve human health and the climate at the same time.
“It encourages you to eat a more diverse range of foods, enjoy your own culture’s contribution, explore someone else’s culture, and savour diversity,” he said. “It’s a solution that is not only good for your own individual health, it’s also a massive contribution to our collective planetary health.” This, said DeClerck, was “something to celebrate”.
Study author Prof Johan Rockström, Commission Co-Chair and Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said: “The evidence is undeniable: transforming food systems is not only possible, it’s essential to securing a safe, just, and sustainable future for all.”
Justice was also a key part of the report, as it found that the wealthiest 30 per cent of people were driving more than 70 per cent of food-related environmental impacts.
“Those of us who are overconsuming, unhealthily, are impinging on the rights of others to have a safe environment,” said DeClerck.
The report called for urgent action to transform the global food system, for the sake of human health, justice and the environment.
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