Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy
diets from sustainable food systems
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)31788-4/fulltext
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Strong evidence indicates that food production is among the largest
drivers of global environmental change by contributing to climate
change, biodiversity loss, freshwater use, interference with the
global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, and land-system change (and
chemical pollution, which is not assessed in this Commission).
• • •
The current global food system is unsustainable and requires an
agricultural revolution that is based on sustainable intensification
and driven by sustainability and system innovation. This change
would entail reducing yield gaps on cropland, radical improvements
in the efficiency of fertiliser and water use, recycling phosphorus,
redistributing global use of nitrogen and phosphorus, implementing
climate mitigation options, including changes in crop and feed
management, and enhancing biodiversity within agricultural systems.
• • •
Climate change
Overview
Anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases cause climate change,
which leads to disruptions in the Earth system, such as sea-level
rise and increasing frequency of extreme weather events.151 Systems
of food production release greenhouse gases (eg, carbon dioxide,
methane, and nitrous oxide) into the atmosphere directly and drive
land use change that releases additional carbon dioxide when forests
are cleared, wetlands drained, and soils are tilled. Food production
is a prime source of methane, and nitrous oxide, which have 56 times
and 280 times the global warming potential (over 20 years) of carbon
dioxide, respectively.151 Methane is produced during digestion in
ruminant livestock, such as cows and sheep, or during anaerobic
decomposition of organic material in flooded rice paddies. Nitrous
oxide mainly arises from soil microbes in croplands and pastures and
is affected by soil fertility management, such as fertiliser
application. Carbon dioxide is released by agricultural land from
tillage of soils and during burning to clear land of plants, soil,
organic matter, and agricultural residues, and from burning fossil
fuels by farm machinery, for production of fertilisers, and in
transport of agricultural products. Carbon dioxide is also released
when converting natural ecosystems, especially forests, to
agriculture.
• • •
Food production as a driver of biodiversity loss
Multiple human actions contribute to biodiversity loss. Terrestrial
and aquatic habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, climate change,
chemical pollution, invasive species, and unsustainable harvest of
wild species have been identified as primary drivers.190,196
However, habitat loss and fragmentation, particularly through human
appropriation of land for food production, is the greatest driver of
biodiversity loss.190,197 Based on the International Union for
Conservation of Nature classification of bird and mammal extinction
risks, 80% of extinction threats to mammal and bird species are due
to agriculture (appendix p 17).
• • •
Staying within the boundary for climate change can be achieved by consuming
plant-based diets. Improved production practices are less
effective than a shift to healthy diets in abating food-related
greenhouse-gas emissions because most emissions are associated with
production of animal source foods whose characteristics, such as
enteric fermentation in ruminants, have little potential for change.
Increasing shift toward more plant-based diets will enable food
production to stay within the climate change boundary.
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