The current human diet is causing “catastrophic” damage to the planet.
A new and damning report commissioned by the Lancet Medical Journal has shown that a serious reduction in our meat and dairy consumption is needed to make our diets sustainable.
A considerable increase in plant-based diets is also necessary to ensure the earth’s resources do not run out.
For Ireland, this would mean a 90 percent reduction in red meat and milk, a 70 percent reduction in chicken, and a considerable reduction in potatoes too.
RTE reports that in order to enforce this new sustainable diet, humans would consume no more than 14g of red meat per day – or about half a rasher.
No more than 29g of chicken should be eaten a day, with one and a half eggs per week being the max consumed.
Lancet suggests a large increase in fruit and nuts consumption and extremely small, or no, amounts of added sugars, processed meats, and starchy vegetables.
The report, which can be accessed here, said that the earth’s current food systems are “faulty” and are a major contributor to climate change and the destruction of the planet.
One of the study’s authors, Professor Tim Lang, said that humans are currently “getting this very wrong.”
He added that we are, at the minute, in a “catastrophic situation.”
“We need a significant overhaul, changing the global food system on a scale not seen before in ways appropriate to each country’s circumstances,” he said.
“While this is uncharted policy territory and these problems are not easily fixed, this goal is within reach and there are opportunities to adapt international, local and business policies.
“The scientific targets we have devised for a healthy, sustainable diet are an important foundation which will underpin and drive this change.”
You can access the full report here.
