Can One Diet Save Earth?

The message that we need to change what and how we eat is clear. Alice Ball looks at whether the plant-based diet proposed by the EAT-Lancet Commission is the one eco-size to fit all

- Alice Ball

I am starting to think that avocados are the root of all our problems. Not only are they keeping millennials like me off the housing market (according to one millionaire, anyway) but transporting them to the UK is raking up a reported footprint of 846.37 g CO2 per pack. With the planet dangerously close to a global warming of 2C, our dietary habits need to change.

Balancing environmental impact with health can be tricky, but scientists for the EAT-Lancet Commission believe they’ve found a solution that supports both — and it goes beyond avocado consumption.

The EAT-Lancet report brings together more than 30 experts who have defined a healthy and environmentally sustainable diet.1 The Planetary Health Diet is largely flexitarian, comprising plant-based products with modest amounts of fish, meat and dairy. Whilst the guidelines allow for an average mass of each type of food every day, you could save up your ‘allowance’ to enjoy a bigger portion once a week.

The authors believe that widespread adoption of the diet would reduce consumption of saturated fats and increase essential micronutrient intake for most people. One exception is vitamin B12, for which it is suggested supplementation may be required to meet adequate intake. They also hope that by halving red meat consumption and limiting dairy products, greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and land use will be significantly reduced.

But Dr Zoë Harcombe, nutrition PhD, believes that the Planetary Health Diet is nutritionally deficient. “I analysed the micronutrients provided by the recommended diet,” she says. “Vitamin D provided only five per cent of the recommended daily [allowance] (RDA) of 15 mcg; retinol [vitamin A] only 15 per cent of the RDA of 900 mcg and calcium only 55-65 per cent of the 1,000-1,200 mg recommended.”