"Make plant-based food the default and give people the choice to opt in for meals with animal products. Greener by Default is inclusive, reduces your carbon footprint, and increases the healthfulness of your meals."
Crippa, M., E. Solazzo, D. Guizzardi, F. N. Tubiello, and A. Leip. “Climate goals require food systems emission inventories.” Nature Food 3:1 (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s43016-021-00450-2.
Crippa, M., E. Solazzo, D. Guizzardi, F. Monforti-Ferrario, F. N. Tubiello, and A. Leip. “Food systems are responsible for a third of global anthropogenic GHG emissions.” Nature Food 2 (2021), 198-209. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00225-9 and the EDGAR-FOOD database.
EDGAR-FOOD is the new global food emission database estimating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the years 1990-2015. It is the first emission database of GHGs covering all countries and sectors of the food system, from production to disposal.
“Transformation to healthy diets by 2050 will require substantial dietary shifts. Global consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes will have to double, and consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar will have to be reduced by more than 50%. A diet rich in plant-based foods and with fewer animal source foods confers both improved health and environmental benefits.”
IPCC, “Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 ºC”. “The leading scientists behind the 2018 IPCC report warned that we have a mere 12 years to keep global temperatures under 1.5 degrees Celsius, beyond which only half a degree more will dramatically increase chances of flooding, drought, and extreme heat.”
Springmann, Marco, HCJ Godfray, Mike Rayner and Peter Scarborough. “Analysis and Valuation of the Health and Climate Change Cobenefits of Dietary Change.” PNAS 113:15 (2016), 4146–4151.
Summary by PCRM.org: “Vegetarian and vegan diets are best for the environment and human health, according to research published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Researchers assessed several regional models that incorporated environmental, economic and health impacts associated with a dietary change in the future. Diets compared included proportional reduction in animal products, reduced or meat-free diets, and diets based on current health standards. A shift to a plant-based diet projected reductions in global mortality and greenhouse gases caused by food production by 10 percent and 70 percent, respectively, compared with a control scenario set in 2050. A global dietary shift would save an estimated 79 million human lives and avoid 5.1 million deaths per year. Estimates for a completely vegan diet project closer to 129 million lives saved and 8.1 million deaths avoided. These projections also saw trillions of dollars saved in health care costs by 2050.”
UN FCCC (The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change): Race to Zero campaign and “Criteria.”
A Menu of Solutions to Feed Nearly 10 Billion People by 2050.”
Health Papers
“Food Planet Health: Healthy Diets From Sustainable Food Systems.” Summary Report of the EAT-Lancet Commission. Download PDF. ” Transformation to healthy diets by 2050 will require substantial dietary shifts. Global consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes will have to double, and consumption of foods such as red meat and sugar will have to be reduced by more than 50%. A diet rich in plant-based foods and with fewer animal source foods confers both improved health and environmental benefits.”
“Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems.” The Lancet 393 (2019), 447–92. Download PDF. ISSN 0140-6736, Science Direct. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31788-4.
“Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.” The Lancet 393: 10184 (2019), 1958–1972. Download PDF. This study finds that poor diet is linked to one in five deaths worldwide. “Among all forms of malnutrition, poor dietary habits — particularly low intake of healthy foods — is the leading risk factor for mortality.”