Source: World Wildlife Fund
Today World Wildlife Fund released a new report, Bending the Curve: The Restorative Power of Planet-Based Diets, exploring how a global shift toward PLANET-based diets, high in human-health benefits and low in environmental impacts, can restore nature and improve health. A supplement to this report, Why we need to shift to a Planet-Based Diet in the US (and how we can get there, together), discusses the specifics of a PLANET-based diet in the US—what it could look like, what impacts it would have, and what other actions are needed to transform our food system.
“Taking a look at our food system today and seeing hunger, inequity, and environmental devastation, you might think it’s simply impossible to feed 8-10 billion people without destroying the planet. But that’s not the case; in fact, the opposite is true. Not only can we feed the entire population of Earth, we can do it in a way that improves human health globally and allows nature to recover from the damage we’ve caused. A global shift in diets to prioritize nutrition hand-in-hand with sustainability—something that will look different in every country—has the potential reverse biodiversity loss, combat climate change, and save human lives.” –Brent Loken, Global Food Lead Scientist, World Wildlife Fund
“The US food system is one of the most important levers we have for solving climate and biodiversity crises, and what we eat and how much we consume matters. Even simple changes to our diets, like eating in line with National Dietary Guidelines, would take us a long way toward positive outcomes for both human health and the environment. And if you can combine these efforts with others—a shift to regenerative and resilient agricultural systems, a less wasteful supply chain, and policies that incentivize producing food with human nutrition and planetary-health at the forefront—we will see positive impacts for people and planet at a global scale.” –Melissa D. Ho, Senior Vice President, Freshwater and Food, World Wildlife Fund
