Following a 122 pages report published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),  we are told that western diets have to change drastically if we stand a chance to save the planet.  Agriculture and food consumption were identified in the report as the most important drivers of environmental pressures.

One significant driver for our ecosystem degradation has been the expansion of the human population and changes in diet. As the global population surges towards a predicted 9.1 billion people by 2050, western tastes for diets rich in meat and dairy products are unsustainable.

Asian countries have a high economic growth, leading to a substantial increase in GDP per capita. As individuals become richer, so is their desire to consume more meat and this results in huge pressure on our natural resources. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. The report claims that the only way to minimise the risk of an environmental disaster is through a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products.

But not everybody agrees that a move away from meat products is sufficient to save the planet.  A research paper published in the journal Progress in Industrial Ecology highlights the following "If everyone became vegan and so ate only fruit and vegetables, then the reduction in greenhouse emissions for the whole of food consumption would be a mere 7%. The widespread adoption of vegetarianism would have even less impact, while organic food production actually leads to a net increase in greenhouse gas emissions."

The team behind the report believes that there is more importance in educating people than than asking them to change their diets.

"There is a pressing need to design effective policy measures," says Risku-Norja. "Consumer information is important from the viewpoint of food and sustainability education, leading eventually to adopting more sustainable lifestyles in the coming generations," the team concludes.