Changing the food we eat could heal both people and the climate

Food is deeply personal, but it’s also planetary. How we grow, process, ship and eat now accounts for roughly 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

A sweeping new report argues it doesn’t have to stay that way. With coordinated changes – from farm practices to dinner plates – food systems could cut their climate footprint by more than half by midcentury. This will help improve health and reduce inequality.

Global collaboration for food change

The Report on Healthy, Sustainable, and Just Food Systems from the EAT-Lancet Commission is one of the most comprehensive looks yet at food’s role in climate change.

A Cornell University team led the report’s modeling work, running scenarios that imagine what global food systems could look like by 2050 under different choices.

“Collaborations like EAT-Lancet are vital to imagining and advancing a more sustainable future,” said Mario Herrero, professor of global development at Cornell.

“Playing a leadership role in this international network allows Cornell researchers to both contribute to and learn from the diverse expertise driving food systems transformation.”

The planetary bill for our dinner

The report uses the “planetary boundaries” framework – the nine Earth system processes that keep the planet stable – to map food’s impacts.

The findings reveal food systems put the greatest negative pressure on five of those nine boundaries, including climate, biodiversity, freshwater, land use, and nutrient cycles.

Yet the authors are just as clear about the upside. Changing what we eat and how we produce it could prevent up to 15 million premature deaths each year.

That’s the payoff from shifting toward more varied, nutritious diets – more fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and nuts instead of ultra-processed foods.

Hunger and excess side by side

The Commission also confronts a hard truth: more than half of the world struggles to access a healthy diet even though we produce enough calories globally. Over one billion people remain undernourished.

Meanwhile, the wealthiest 30 percent of people drive over 70 percent of food-related environmental harm.

That gap isn’t inevitable. It’s the result of policy choices, such as subsidies that reward resource-intensive production, weak safety nets, and supply chains that make nutritious foods costly or scarce.

Modeling the food future

Cornell’s modeling team explored how different levers interact. The big takeaway: diet change is essential but not sufficient.

To stay within planetary limits, gains in agricultural productivity that spare land and practices that rebuild soils and biodiversity are also necessary. In addition, policymakers should protect intact ecosystems from conversion, while aiming for deep cuts in food loss and waste.

“The modeling suggests that a food system transformation can substantially reduce environmental pressure along all food-related planetary boundaries,” said Daniel Mason-D’Croz, the senior research associate who led the modeling.

“But if dietary change is not accompanied by improvements such as increased agricultural productivity and reduced food loss, it won’t get us environmentally sustainable food systems. Future work will now need to focus on developing roadmaps for achieving more sustainable futures.”

Building a better food system

To make this real, the report lays out eight areas for action, ranging from biodiversity-friendly farming to halting deforestation and cutting waste across the supply chain.

The point isn’t a one-size-fits-all recipe. Countries will tailor the mix to local cultures, ecologies, and economies. What matters is that the pieces move together, not in isolation.

When they do, the benefits go beyond emissions cuts. By 2050, a healthier food system could bolster nutrition and public health.

At the same time, it will stabilize prices, strengthen rural livelihoods, and raise labor standards from fields to factories. It would also reduce the vulnerability of low-income households to climate shocks and market swings.

Patrick Beary is the senior director of Strategic Partnerships at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.

“This research provides crucial insights that help policymakers, governments, and corporations make informed decisions, while also enabling individuals to understand the implications of their diets and our food systems,” said Beary.

Policies that drive real change

The blueprint is ambitious. Delivering it will take political will and investment. The authors urge governments to weave food into national climate plans.

More efforts should be made towards measurable targets for diet quality and waste reduction, and redirecting public spending toward nutritious, lower-emission options.

The scientists call on banks and businesses to back credible innovation across the chain, from methane-reducing livestock feeds and low-emission cold chains to soil health practices and packaging that prevents spoilage.

Most importantly, they emphasize fairness: transitions must protect smallholders and low income consumers.

Turning food from problem to solution

Individual choices matter most when systems make the better choice the easier, more affordable one. Public procurement is a powerful accelerant. When schools and hospitals shift menus, supply follows.

Food systems are already feeling the strain of extreme weather, degraded soils, and fragile supply chains. Left alone, their climate footprint will grow even as health outcomes worsen.

But the opposite is also true. With coordinated action, food can flip from climate liability to climate solution – cutting emissions sharply while nourishing people more fairly.

The report is published in the journal The Lancet.

—–

Like what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter for engaging articles, exclusive content, and the latest updates. 

Check us out on EarthSnap, a free app brought to you by Eric Ralls and Earth.com.

—–