🌅 Unlocking Trillions Through More Sustainable Food

SOURCE

Food System Economics Commission

WHAT TO KNOW

• A widespread transition to more sustainable food systems around the world would create trillions in economic benefits each year, growing economies of all sizes while costing far less than the benefits the change could bring. The shift would also save 174 million people from premature death due to diet-related chronic disease by 2050, employ 400 million farm workers, and protect 1.4 billion hectares of land.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The finding comes from one of the most ambitious analyses of the global food system ever undertaken, quantifying the hidden health and environmental costs of the world’s current approach to identify the changes needed to create more sustainable and equitable health and nutrition outcomes around the globe. The report calls for broad changes within the global food system, including halving food waste, reducing trade barriers, and updating food production practices, as well capitalizing on external changes, like the increase in bioplastics, timber construction, and clean energy solutions.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Within global food systems, change starts with agribusinesses and how they approach food production and distribution, however, the report also identified one change individuals can make that will have an immediate impact: shifting to a predominantly plant-based diet. The report found the global adoption of a more plant-centric diet accounted for around three-quarters of the total health and environmental benefits gained from more sustainable food systems, contributing an additional 2% each year to global GDP.