Could National Recommended Diets (NRD’s) Benefit the Environment?

 Could National Recommended Diets (NRD’s) Benefit the Environment?

By: Jackie Garcia

Food systems place an increasing burden on the environment. Food production accounts for 19-29% of global greenhouse gas emissions (80-86% in agriculture) and it also occupies about 33% of ice-free land globally. The greenhouse gas emission impacts for average diets increase with income, which is why nationally recommended diets (NRD’s) are recommended to the public not only to drive health outcomes, but also to drive environmental outcomes. The NRD’s focus on nutrients to ensure that there is an adequate intake. A recent study shows the comparison between environmental impacts of average dietary intakes and a nation-specific recommended diet. The study is done across 37 middle and high-income nations focusing on greenhouse gases, eutrophication, and land use. Figure (A) shows the environmental impacts of average diets for different national groups per person including an increase in animal products in while figure (B) shows the differences in environmental impacts between average and recommended diets per person (Behrens et al., 2017).

High income nations resulted in the greatest reduction in greenhouse gases, eutrophication, and land use due to dietary shifts from average to nationally recommended diets. Over all the study shows that there are environmental impact benefits when nations adopt nationally recommended diets.

Reference

Behrens, P., J.C. Jong, T. Bosker, J.F.D. Rodrigues, A.D. Koning and A. Tukker. 2017. Evaluating the environmental impacts of dietary recommendations. PNAS 114 (51) 13412-13417.