The Earth’s surface is 29% land and 71% ocean, and out of all the habitable land (71%) about 50% is used for agriculture. Farm animals and crops to feed them comprise 77% of the total agricultural land and supply only 18% of calories and 37% of proteins globally. In the UK, 85% of farmed land is used to raise animals for food, but only about 18% of the calorie supply is provided through meat and dairy. Animals eat much more food than the amount of protein and calories they produce, making their consumption energy inefficient.
On average, plant-based proteins produce 70 times less greenhouse gases and use 150 times less land than a similar amount of beef. In 2021, 48kg of red meat per person per year was supplied in the UK, which is almost twice the amount recommended by the Eatwell Guide.
Modern agricultural practices have revolutionised food production to increase yield by using new breeds of crops, new irrigation techniques, chemical fertilisers and pesticides to feed 8 billion humans. However, these intensive farming methods are vulnerable. For example, monocultures (i.e. growing a single type of crop, mainly used to feed livestock) are more prone to diseases, attack from different insects, and are sensitive to climate-related events. Air pollutants like ozone, global heating, and climate-related extreme weather events are leading to crop losses. Further, farmers are at risk of heat-related illnesses such as exhaustion, heat stroke and kidney diseases due to increasing temperature rises.
Globally, there is growing hunger and undernutrition in vulnerable population groups. In 2021, 828 million people were impacted by hunger. In June 2024 reportedly 7.2 million adults (13.6% of households) in the UK experienced food insecurity. The consequences of climate and nature crises further threaten this scarcity of nutritional food. For example, supply chain breakages and crop failures due to extreme weather events result in higher prices of food. This in turn contributes to rises in the cost of living and exacerbates social inequities within and between countries.
The transition to a plant-based food system also has latent carbon mitigation potential. For instance, moving away from animal farming can free up 75% of farmland globally and in the UK, which can be returned to nature and used to store carbon. One estimate suggests that the carbon storage possible in the freed-up farmlands is the equivalent of 16 years’ worth of fossil fuel emissions. Urgent cuts in food system emissions are essential to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5℃.
Actions that can maximise the health co-benefits
Our food systems need to meet global food demand and transform from carbon emitters to carbon sinks and from destroyer to protector of biodiversity; all at the same time. There is robust evidence to keep the food system within planetary boundaries by adopting the Planetary Health diet recommended by the EAT-Lancet Commission. This initiative could prevent 11 million premature deaths per year in adults globally. Around the world in regions known as Blue Zones, where people live beyond 100 years of age, there is the common practice of eating 95-100% plant-based foods. There is strong evidence from decades of scientific studies, that eating predominantly plant-based whole foods and reducing meat and dairy consumption can help us lead healthy long lives. The beauty of this way of eating is that it is adaptable to all cultural and traditional eating patterns and can be designed to be free of common food allergens.
While it is possible to achieve limited reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and increase productivity through innovations in animal farming, a transition to a predominantly plant-based diet and a just phase-out of animal agriculture would help achieve half of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions needed to achieve the Paris Agreement targets and freeze global rise of temperature for 30 years. It would also enable the regeneration, restoration and protection of biodiversity and reap maximum health benefits. Out of this, 90% of the benefits can be achieved by eliminating ruminant animals from animal farming.