By 2050, nearly 10 billion people will be sharing this planet. How, then, can we eat in a way that keeps everyone healthy without overburdening ecosystems? A working group of international scientists (the EAT-Lancet Commission) has attempted to provide a global answer to this question and has presented a “Planetary Health Diet.” [32] Significantly fewer animal products, more plant-based protein and whole grains, much more fruit, vegetables, and nuts—all of this as minimally processed and locally produced as possible, with significantly less waste and wastefulness, and preferably from organic farming, or at least without synthetic fertilizers and toxins.
Of course, this “magic formula” doesn’t always look the same across different regions of the world and different social classes. But this healthy global standard does share a few fundamental commonalities. For most of us, “healthy and enough” means eating less; for millions of people, however, it means significantly more than what they currently have to survive on.
These insights aren’t entirely new to most of us. We really just need to do what we’ve known for a long time and not let ourselves or our children be lured by a multi-billion-dollar advertising industry into a constant excess of sugar, fat, meat, and empty calories in processed foods. When our health is in order, the environment usually benefits as well, and as long as exceptions prove the rule, this is also the best way to safeguard our freedom.
This is what your plate might look like if you follow the recommendations of the EAT-Lancet Commission. [32]
