New Delhi, Oct 3
Eating a plant-based diet, including whole grains, fruits and vegetables, with moderate intake of foods such as poultry and egg, can not only boost human health and reduce the risk of chronic diseases, but also keep the planet healthy with less impact on climate change and biodiversity loss, according to a new report by the Lancet Commission on Friday.
The report showed that food systems are key drivers of the world's most urgent challenges, from chronic diseases and rising inequality to accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss.
Food production was also found to be a significant contributor to environmental degradation, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, leading to climate change, biodiversity loss, land use change, freshwater consumption, nutrient pollution, and novel entities such as pesticides and antibiotics.