(Press-News.org) (Santa Barbara, Calif.) — Shifting our diets to be more sustainable can be a powerful way for each of us to address both climate change and global food insecurity, however making such adjustments at the large scales necessary to make a difference globally can be a delicate matter.
“Changes in food demand in one part of the world can have cascading environmental and human welfare implications for people around the world),” said Joe DeCesaro, data analyst at UC Santa Barbara’s National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis (NCEAS).
Despite the seemingly daunting complexity of the global food system, to ensure a healthy population and planet, global diet shifts are required. To remove some of the uncertainty surrounding such an ambitious yet necessary endeavor, DeCesaro and an international collaboration of researchers set out to understand where and how these environmental pressures might occur within hypothetical global shifts to each of four types of diets: Indian, Mediterranean, EAT-Lancet (largely plant-based, “flexitarian”) and average government-recommended food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs). The most beneficial of the four? The Indian diet, with an estimated 20.9% reduction in food production-based global environmental pressure. The least beneficial of the selected diets? FBDGs, with a potential 35.2% global increase in environmental pressure.
The researchers’ study is published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
Following food flow
The global food system is one of the largest drivers of environmental change, according to the study, contributing to about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions and using more than 70% of freshwater resources, on top of degrading and disturbing land for agriculture and contributing the majority of nutrient pollution in waterways and coastal waters. For these reasons, moving toward a more sustainable diet — one that leans away from resource-intensive foods like red meat, for instance — can ease the pressure on the environment, with the added benefit of being healthier, especially when the diet also involves cutting back on refined sugars and starches and increasing nutrient-dense foods such like vegetables and legumes.
But that’s just part of the solution, according to the researchers.
“We wanted to know who would actually be feeling the change from the food production if these shifts occur,” said Ben Halpern, NCEAS director and a coauthor on the study. What has not been well understood is how environmental pressures may move, or if new ones might be generated by a large-scale shift in diet, especially given that food is often produced in one part of the world and eaten in another part of the world.
“The research was motivated originally by the question: Who’s consumption is generating the pressures of food production that are being felt by people and places around the world?” DeCesaro said. “Are poorer countries paying the environmental price of producing higher pressure foods that are being eaten by richer countries or vice versa? Our methods allow us to track changes in the environmental pressures from the producer to the consumer, and vice versa, in a standardized format across four pressures. Our work is quite novel in this space.”
Using available data on a variety of factors, including countries’ average diets, trade flow and the global environmental pressures of food production, the researchers were able to map to a high degree of precision the changes in environmental pressure that would occur with a global shift to each of four types of diets, the mostly vegetarian Indian diet, the plant-forward Mediterranean and EAT-Lancet diets, and average government-recommended dietary guidelines.
“We felt these four diet scenarios gave us a good variation of diet types from low meat to higher quantities of meat and dairy while also maintaining cultural relevance,” noted DeCesaro. “The Indian and FBDGs being directly from government recommendations, the Mediterranean being widely discussed for its health benefits, and the EAT-Lancet diet being developed by subject matter experts.”
The researchers found that shifts to three of the four diets examined — all except the FBDGs — resulted in reductions in global cumulative pressure. The Indian diet in particular performed the best out of the sustainable popular diets largely due to the difference in red meat consumption — the Indian diet recommends no red meat while the FBDGs typically recommend more red meat than countries already consume.
Meanwhile, global reductions in pressure, according to the study, would come mostly from dietary shifts in higher-income countries.
“Higher-income countries’ average current diets have higher consumption quantities of most food categories than the recommended quantities in our diet scenarios,” DeCesaro said. “Essentially, these countries are over-consuming, compared to the recommendations of the diet scenarios, while lower-income countries are, on average, under-consuming in these categories.”
Additionally, should the world shift toward more sustainable, plant-forward diets, lower-income countries would see an increase to their food-production related environmental pressures, DeCesaro said, “but that is mainly due to the diet scenarios meeting more of their daily needs.” To ensure the goals of food security and equitable access to adequate nutrition for these countries, the authors call for support from wealthier countries via access to imports of efficiently produced foods, economic development where it can improve dietary health and reduce environmental pressures of food production, and through innovation and knowledge sharing of efficient and environmental food production practices.
“Sharing sustainable agricultural practices will help reduce any increases in pressures seen from diet shifts,” DeCesaro said. Continuing in this vein, the researchers are currently working to directly analyze current food trade patterns and the subsequent environmental pressures traded with it, with no diet shifts.
“A big message from our work,” summarized Halpern, “is that the decisions we make about what we eat are important for reducing our environmental footprint, but other people may pay the price for those decisions.”
END
Revealing the hidden costs of what we eat
Researchers find that shifting diets will ease cumulative environmental pressures for many but increase them for others
2024-11-18
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New therapies at Kennedy Krieger offer effective treatment for managing Tourette syndrome
2024-11-18
BALTIMORE, November 18, 2024— Researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute have made significant strides in improving the lives of patients with Tourette syndrome. Their recent publication highlights how behavioral therapies—an approach that teaches patients how to manage certain tics using behavioral strategies—are proving to be the most effective treatment.
Tourette syndrome (TS), a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting up to 1% of the population, is characterized by motor and vocal tics, which are sudden, repetitive movements or sounds that can significantly ...
American soil losing more nutrients for crops due to heavier rainstorms, study shows
2024-11-18
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Phosphorus, a nutrient in soil essential for sustaining most forms of life, is increasingly disappearing from land as it is washed into waterways throughout the United States, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.
The study, published today (Nov. 18) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, analyzed data from 430 rivers across the U.S. and found that phosphorus loss from agricultural lands has increased over the past four decades, despite efforts to reduce it. This loss of phosphorus ...
With new imaging approach, ADA Forsyth scientists closely analyze microbial adhesive interactions
2024-11-18
Cambridge, Mass., 11/18/2024 – Scientists have identified many types of bacteria in the mouth, but many problems remain in understanding how they work with one another. One of the problems is that microbes assemble themselves into densely packed multi-species biofilms. Their density and complexity pose acute difficulties for visualizing individual cells and analyzing their interactions at single-cell level.
ADA Forsyth scientists have developed a new imaging approach that makes it possible to analyze the spatial connections between bacteria, including the strength of adhesive forces that hold them together. Adhesion is of fundamental importance in ...
Global antibiotic consumption has increased by more than 21 percent since 2016
2024-11-18
Washington, DC / Bangalore, India — A new study highlights recent, but fluctuating, growth in global human antibiotic consumption, one of the main drivers of growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR results in infections that no longer respond to antibiotics (and other antimicrobial medicines) and often leads to longer hospital stays, higher treatment costs, and higher mortality rates. AMR is estimated to be associated with nearly five million global deaths annually.
Researchers affiliated with the One Health Trust (OHT), the Population Council, GlaxoSmithKline, the University of Zurich, the University of Brussels, ...
New study shows how social bonds help tool-using monkeys learn new skills
2024-11-18
The research team, led by Durham University’s Department of Anthropology, studied two groups of wild bearded capuchin monkeys in Brazil’s Serra da Capivara National Park.
The researchers installed a large box in the park which contained food that the monkeys could access by either lifting a door or pulling a knob.
The team observed which monkeys learned how to access the food, and how that information then spread to the rest of their group.
The researchers specifically focused on the role played by social tolerance in the learning of the problem-solving behaviour.
Social tolerance determines who is allowed ...
Modeling and analysis reveals technological, environmental challenges to increasing water recovery from desalination
2024-11-18
Climate change is making water scarcer. A promising method to combat this problem is desalination technology because it can tap seawater. Though desalination has potential, it also brings risks with environmental impact, cost, and accessibility. Zero liquid discharge (ZLD) technology aims to increase water recovery from desalination by squeezing more water out of desalination brine. ZLD can help reduce water scarcity and waste from desalination plants, but comes at increased costs and, potentially, increased environmental effects from desalination.
In ...
Navy’s Airborne Scientific Development Squadron welcomes new commander
2024-11-18
WASHINGTON — Cmdr. J. Aaron Roberts relinquished command of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory’s (NRL) Scientific Development Squadron (VXS) 1, the Warlocks, to Cmdr. Luis A. Levine, the new Commanding Officer (CO), during a change of command and retirement ceremony Nov. 14 at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland.
NRL’s CO Capt. Jesse Black presented Roberts with the Meritorious Service Medal. Roberts served as the VXS-1 CO from May 2023 to November 2024 and the U.S. Navy for 21 years. Black said Roberts’ distinguished leadership was instrumental to the squadron’s continued record of exceptional support to NRL’s airborne ...
TāStation®'s analytical power used to resolve a central question about sweet taste perception
2024-11-18
PHILADELPHIA, PA – November 18, 2024 – Opertech Bio, Inc., a leading innovator in taste assessment, today announced the publication of a research article in which the TāStation® rapid throughput taste evaluation system was used to resolve a central question about sweet taste perception.
It has been well established that sweeteners impart their taste by activating the TAS1R2/TAS1R3 “sweet taste receptor” in the tongue. A second signaling pathway involving the activity of glucose transporters, operating independently of the receptor, recently has been proposed for metabolizable caloric sweeteners. In a powerful demonstration of the analytical ...
NASA awards SwRI $60 million contract to develop next-generation coronagraphs
2024-11-18
Southwest Research Institute has won a $60 million contract to build three coronagraphs for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). SwRI’s novel Space Weather Solar Coronagraph (SwSCOR) is NOAA’s next-generation instrument to provide early detection and characterization of Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CMEs).
CMEs are huge bursts of coronal plasma threaded with intense magnetic fields ejected from the Sun over the course of several hours. CMEs arriving at Earth can generate geomagnetic storms, which can cause anomalies in and disruptions ...
Reducing antimicrobial resistance: accelerated efforts are needed to meet the EU targets
2024-11-18
Between 2019 and 2023, antibiotic consumption in the EU increased by 1%, moving further away from the 2030 target of a 20% reduction recommended by the Council of the European Union.
Although there have been significant reductions in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections during the same period, the situation in other critical areas, such as carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream infections, has worsened, with an increase in incidence by almost 60% between 2019 and 2023. This represents a growing threat to patients in hospitals across the EU, particularly since very few therapeutic options remain available to treat patients infected with ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Less intensive works best for agricultural soil
Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation
Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests
Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome
UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership
New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll
Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes
University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025
Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025
AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials
New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age
Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker
Chips off the old block
Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia
Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry
Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19
Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity
State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections
Young adults drive historic decline in smoking
NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research
Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development
This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack
FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology
In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity
Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects
A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions
AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate
Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative
Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine
Mission accomplished for the “T2T” Hong Kong Bauhinia Genome Project
[Press-News.org] Revealing the hidden costs of what we eatResearchers find that shifting diets will ease cumulative environmental pressures for many but increase them for others