A food system that profits from high-calorie, low-nutrient foods is fomenting two parallel crises, obesity and the climate crisis.
Rethinking the way we eat would lead to alleviating in one fell swoop two of the biggest emergencies of our time: a food system that makes profit at the expense of our health and that encourages us to consume caloric and not at all nutritious foods is in fact fueling obesity and climate change.
According to an important review on the topic just published on Frontiers in Sciencethe same diet based on ultra-processed foods that promotes weight gain and the development of chronic diseases is also one of the main causes of greenhouse gas emissions, water and soil consumption, loss of biodiversity and animal welfare.
According to the authors of the analysis, led by Jeff Holly, Professor of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bristol, redirecting the food supply towards healthier and more nutritious options would then have the double benefit of reducing the conditions that favor obesity and easing the pressure of the food sector on the environment.
The research starts from the observation that, by 2035, half of the world’s population could be overweight or affected by obesity; furthermore, global food production is responsible for a slice ranging from a quarter to a third of global greenhouse gas emissions of anthropogenic origin, a number which includes the conversion of land to make room for agricultural land, food production, processing, transport, packaging and sale. Food production is also a major cause of biodiversity loss and deforestation.
Obesity is not a choice: systemic solutions are needed
While they look with apprehension at the spread of obesity, especially in younger and more disadvantaged populations, the authors of the study point out that “for adults and children, individual willpower is no match for aggressive marketing campaigns.” The prevention and management of obesity cannot be left to the efforts of individuals for the simple fact that obesity is not a choice, but a systemic problem, the product of a profit-driven food industry.
“While treatments such as anti-obesity drugs or surgery offer important therapeutic options for individuals, they will not replace the need to address our unhealthy and unsustainable food and lifestyle systems,” the researchers add. These new, important options to fight obesity, still inaccessible to the less well-off and with little-known long-term effects, do nothing to undermine a wrong food culture that rewards the most convenient and unhealthy foods.
Our health is that of the Planet
So what are the solutions capable of acting on the primary causes of obesity and the climate crisis? The authors of the work suggest taxing ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks and using the proceeds to make healthy, minimally processed foods more accessible; to apply labels on packages that warn consumers of the unhealthy nature of certain foods, and intensify information campaigns on the true costs (for health and for the Earth) of the food we eat; to enforce restrictions on ultra-processed foods for children and encourage the provision of healthy food in school canteens; finally, to promote a diet rich in fiber and minimally processed foods, and low in products of animal origin.
