\n <\/p>\n
Earlier this month, US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr released new dietary guidelines urging Americans to \u201ceat real food\u201d. Rather than consuming highly processed and sugary foods, the guidance recommends that people eat more protein, fruits and vegetables.<\/p>\n
Power and profit drive what we eat: here\u2019s why the food system needs a revolution<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The guidelines have reignited a long-standing debate over what the best evidence says about healthy diets. Yet the broader environmental footprint of food remains mostly absent from discussions about national nutrition recommendations.<\/p>\n
As an Earth-systems scientist, I have spent years developing the Planetary Boundaries framework, which identifies nine biophysical thresholds that governments must respect to avoid destabilizing the planet. From a planetary perspective, what we choose to eat is not merely a lifestyle choice but a systemic driver of both human and Earth\u2019s health. Your lunch matters \u2014 because the question of which diets public authorities must prioritize is inextricably linked to the conditions necessary for Earth\u2019s stability.<\/p>\n
How food is currently produced and consumed accounts for roughly 30% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, and about 70% of the world\u2019s yearly freshwater use is for agricultural purposes. Agriculture is also a leading driver of nutrient pollution and biodiversity loss.<\/p>\n
Current diets undermine human health. Each year, around 15 million adults die prematurely owing to unhealthy diets. This toll exceeds the annual number of deaths caused by air pollution worldwide.<\/p>\n
How much protein do you really need? What the science says<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Only 1% of the world\u2019s population is currently in a \u2018safe and just space\u2019, in which people\u2019s rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries.<\/p>\n
Changes are urgently needed. Last year, I co-chaired the 2025 EAT\u2013Lancet Commission \u2014 comprising specialists in nutrition, climate, economics, health and agriculture originally from some 35 countries. The commission published a state-of-the-art scientific assessment of what constitutes a healthy diet and proposed an updated planetary health diet (PHD) last October (J. Rockstr\u00f6m et al. Lancet 406, 1625\u20131700; 2025). This diet is rich in fruit, vegetables, nuts, legumes and whole grains, which together supply some 65% of people\u2019s daily caloric intake. It recommends roughly one portion of red meat a week and two modest servings of poultry and fish or shellfish. The PHD offers a high degree of flexibility, and many traditional cuisines \u2014 such as those in the Mediterranean, South and East Asia, Africa and Latin America \u2014 already align with its principles.<\/p>\n
This healthy, plant-rich way of eating helps to prevent conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer. The PHD provides all essential nutrients and derives about 14% of daily energy from protein.<\/p>\n
Currently, most people\u2019s diets deviate substantially from the PHD. In many countries, people overconsume foods from animal sources and don\u2019t eat enough vegetables, fruit, legumes and nuts. Moreover, diets that rely heavily on ultra-processed foods are becoming increasingly embedded in cultures globally. The commission highlighted the excessive and rising intake of added sugars, saturated fats and salt \u2014 particularly through ultra-processed foods.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Earlier this month, US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr released new dietary guidelines urging Americans to \u201ceat real food\u201d. Rather than consuming highly processed and sugary foods, the guidance recommends that people eat more protein, fruits and vegetables. Power and profit drive what we eat: here\u2019s why the food system needs a revolution The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[63,9687,665],"class_list":{"0":"post-42905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-earths","9":"tag-eat","10":"tag-limits"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}