Unhealthy diets exact a high health cost, cause environmental destruction, increase the risk of pandemic outbreaks and lead to massive greenhouse gas emissions and global food insecurity. Unfortunately, healthy diets are neither accessible nor affordable for more than half of the world population.
Our colleague Raphael Podselver got the opportunitiy to contribute to the latest Perspectives issue by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): Healthy food for all. How do we make healthy diets accessible and affordable for all? A framework for action.
More than one-third of the world population is overweight or suffering from hunger, proving that our current food system is inefficient and needs urgent transformations. A shift to more plant-rich diets and more sustainable agricultural practices is a crucial condition to achieving the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. This is only realistic if ample financial incentives from governments and the private sector also are in place to help farmers and food producers transition to resilient, healthier, and more climate-friendly practices.
The article includes a framework for action calling for:
- coherence at all policy levels including catering, taxation, subsidies, integration of health costs, NDCs
- support of climate-friendly plant-based innovation
- sanctioning food waste
- nutrition education and consumer information
