UN-backed report: Nature’s biggest enemy is the vicious circle of unhealthy, cheap food.
Globally, more than 80% of farmland is used for raising animals. These animals provide 18% of the calories consumed.
According to a report, the largest driver of environmental destruction is the global food system. A shift to plant-based diets will help to stop the damage.
According to the Chatham House thinktank report, agriculture affects 86% of 28,000 threatened species. It stated that the loss of biodiversity is likely to continue and threaten the ability of the world to sustain itself without any change.
According to the report, the root cause is a vicious cycle of cheap food. Low prices drive higher demand and more waste. More competition leads to lower costs through increased clearing of natural land. And also the use of pesticides and polluting fertilizers.
UNEP supported the report and focused on three options. The first is to shift to whole food plant-based diets as cattle, sheep, and other livestock have the greatest impact on the environment.
The rising trend towards meat consumption can go back, removing the need to clear land and further threatening wildlife. This also allows for the use of existing land to restore native ecosystems and increase biodiversity.
According to the report, the availability of land is also a key factor in the third option, which is less intensive, more damaging farming, but with lower yields. It said that organic yields average 75% less than conventional intensive farming.
The report stated that fixing the global food system will also help to address the climate crisis. The food system causes about 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than half of it which comes from the animals. Changes in the food production helps 3 billion people who are either too fat or overweight. This is a huge problem that costs trillions of dollars yearly in healthcare.
Professor Tim Benton at Chatham House said that “politicians still say that my job is to make food more affordable for you,” regardless of how harmful it is from a human or planetary health perspective.”
“We need to stop saying that we must subsidise the food system for the poor, and instead help the poor by lifting them out of poverty.”
Benton stated that the climate and health impacts of the food system were becoming more widely accepted, but that biodiversity was often considered a “nice thing to have”.
Susan Gardner, Unep’s ecosystems director, stated that the current food system is a “double-edged knife” offering cheap food. But not taking into consideration the hidden costs to our health or the environment. She stated that it was a priority to reform the way food is produced and consumed.
Jane Goodall, a renowned conservationist, stated that intensive farming of billions upon billions of animals was causing serious damage to the environment. Inhumane and crowded conditions could lead to new pandemic disease outbreaks.
Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta conducted a landmark review on Tuesday. It concluded that the world was at risk from economic failures to account for the rapid decline in biodiversity.
According to the Chatham House report, half of the world’s natural ecosystems had been lost and the average wild animal population had decreased by 68% in the past 70 years. Farmed animals (on the whole cows and pork) now make up 60% of all mammals in weight. Humans account for 36%, and animals only 4%.
The report stated that the convergence of global food consumption around a generally plant-based meal is crucial to reforming the global food system. It stated that a shift from beef to beans would result in 42% more US cropland being available for other uses, such as rewilding and environmental-safe farming.
Another example is that the report stated that 72bn tonnes would be stored if permanent pastures around the globe that were once forests were returned to their natural state. This is roughly equal to seven years worth of global carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Benton stated that the report did not advocate that everyone should go vegan. But, he suggested that people should eat healthier diets with less meat.
The Benton stated that the year ahead presents a unique opportunity to rebuild the global food system. There are major UN summits on biodiversity, climate and nutrition, as well the first UN Food Systems Summit in the world and an international Nutrition for Growth Summit. According to the report, the large amounts of money is being spent by governments to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic offer opportunities for policymaking that gives equal priority on public and global health.
Compassion in the World Farming’s Philip Lymbery stated that, “The future farming must be environmental-safe and regenerative.” He also said that our diets should become more plant-based and healthier to ensure our survival. We are at risk of losing our future if we don’t end factory farming.