“You are what you eat.” Hinting at the interconnected relationship between nutrition and well-being, this popular phrase was introduced by french food commentator Jean Anthelme Savarin-Brillat in the 1820s. Simultaneously, this time period saw the emergence of industrialized agriculture, which increased the capacity to produce, process, package, and preserve food with the use of transformative technologies. However, the consequences of Western food industry patterns not only call for a sustainable relationship between food and human health, but between food and the planet. 

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Sustainable diets can be tackled on two fronts, one focus being the reduction of food wastage.  According to the World Wildlife Fund, 30% of the food produced in the world is wasted. The multi-level process of food production and distribution is environmentally draining due to land use, depletion of natural resources, and greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, rotting food in landfills further produces methane, a greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide.  

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The root cause of food wastage is often dependent on local conditions; in lower-income countries, wastage can be reduced by improving the production, storage, and transportation of food, while higher-income countries primarily waste their food at retail and consumer levels, as produce is easily rejected over visual imperfections. In Sweden, the restaurant Spill found an innovative solution towards relieving retail and consumer food waste: its chefs cook with ingredients that would otherwise be thrown away by local suppliers. 

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In addition to reducing food waste, sustainable diets require mindful nutrition at the household level. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported that livestock industries were responsible for approximately 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, cattle being the chief culprit. A diet rich in healthy plant-based foods not only reduces greenhouse gas emissions, but decreases land and irrigation water use. The FAO further notes that just 12 plants and five animal species make up 75% percent of the world’s food supply. By purposefully incorporating a variety of foods in the kitchen, the burden of contemporary food production on biodiversity can be lessened. 

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Aside from the type of food products consumed, where food originates from and how it is sold are equally important factors to consider when seeking to embrace a more sustainable diet. Nature Food estimates that global food miles amount to three gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. Prioritizing food that is in season, buying from local farmers, and supporting community or backyard gardens are all practices that reduce the environmental costs of transporting food, as well as plastic pollution. In 2019 alone, the FAO reported that 12.5 million tons of plastic products were used in plant and animal production, and another 37.3 million tons were used in food packaging.

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As stated by the Environmental Protection Agency, at its very core, to be sustainable is to “create and maintain conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to support present and future generations.” By tackling food wastage both in and outside the household, and being aware of the foods their diets are composed of, where that food originates from, and how it is sold, consumers can favour a more sustainable diet, food industry, and future. You are what you eat, but so is the planet. 

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Works Cited

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Directorate-General for Environment. “Field to Fork: Global Food Miles Generate Nearly 20% of All CO2 Emissions from Food.” European Commission, 25 Jan. 2023, environment.ec.europa.eu/news/field-fork-global-food-miles-generate-nearly-20-all-co2-emissions-food-2023-01-25_en.

Li, Mengyu, et al. “Global Food-Miles Account for Nearly 20% of Total Food-Systems Emissions.” Nature Food, vol. 3, no. 6, 1 June 2022, pp. 445–453, www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00531-w, https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00531-w.

“Livestock Solutions for Climate Change | FAO.” The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2017, www.fao.org/family-farming/detail/en/c/1634679/#:~:text=Livestock%20supply%20chains%20account%20for.

Musicus, Aviva A., et al. “Health and Environmental Impacts of Plant-Rich Dietary Patterns: A US Prospective Cohort Study.” The Lancet Planetary Health, vol. 6, no. 11, 1 Nov. 2022, pp. e892–e900, www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(22)00243-1/fulltext, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00243-1.

“Plant-Rich Diets.” Project Drawdown, 6 Feb. 2020, drawdown.org/solutions/plant-rich-diets.

“Reduced Food Waste.” Project Drawdown, 6 Feb. 2020, drawdown.org/solutions/reduced-food-waste.

“Restaurant Spill - Sharing Sweden.” Sharing Sweden, 24 June 2024, sharingsweden.se/materials/restaurant-spill. Accessed 29 Aug. 2024.

“Learn about Sustainability | US EPA.” US EPA, United States Environmental Protection Agency, 16 Oct. 2023, www.epa.gov/sustainability/learn-about-sustainability.

“What Is Agrobiodiversity?” The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, www.fao.org/4/y5609e/y5609e02.htm.

“Eight Tips to Eat More Sustainably.” WWF, 2023, www.wwf.org.uk/betterbasket.

“You Are What You Eat.” Kennedy Center, 28 Apr. 2022, kennedy.byu.edu/alumni/bridges/features/you-are-what-you-eat.

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Image credits:

Media Title

• polyculture

Media Type

• Image

Website Name

• Encyclopædia Britannica

Publisher

• Encyclopædia Britannica

URL

• https://www.britannica.com/technology/sustainable-agriculture#/media/1/2100133/127809

Access Date

• September 1st, 2024

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