DIET FOR HEALTHY PEOPLE, HEALTHY PLANET TOO COSTLY FOR SOME

Earlier this year, EAT-Lancet published the first scientific review of what constitutes a healthy diet from a sustainable food system. It recommended people double their intake of nuts, fruit, vegetables and legumes, and eat half as much meat and sugar to prevent millions of early deaths, cut greenhouse gas emissions and preserve land, water and biodiversity. However, a recent study has found that following this diet would cost an average of $2.84 per head per day, amounting to nearly 90% of a household’s daily per capita income in poorer countries, meaning the diet would be completely unaffordable to nearly 1.6 billion people, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Whilst the ‘ideal diet’ would keep people and planet healthy, drastic changes within the food system are needed if we’re to make this diet economically achievable the world over.

Source: Reuters