One may be aware that a plant-based diet can make you healthier by lowering the risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Now, a study suggested that filling your plate with plant foods instead of animal foods can help save the planet.
The study conducted at the University of Oxford and published in the Journal of Nature, found that as a result of population growth and the continued consumption of Western diets high in red meats and processed foods, the environmental pressures of the food system could increase by up to 90 percent by 2050, exceeding key planetary boundaries that define a safe operating space for humanity beyond which Earth's vital ecosystems could become unstable.
"It could lead to dangerous levels of climate change with higher occurrences of extreme weather events, affect the regulatory function of forest ecosystems and biodiversity and pollute water bodies such that it would lead to more oxygen-depleted dead zones in oceans," said author Marco Springmann.
Sustaining a healthier planet will require halving the amount of food loss and waste, and improving farming practices and technologies. But it will also require a shift toward more plant-based diets.
