the food we eat
Food is a hot issue at the moment: barely a day goes by without a news story on some aspect of our diet, with comments on health, waste, cost, nutrition and environmental impact. Green Alliance has been doing some thinking about it too.
In 2006 we worked with a wide range of civil society groups to identify the individual actions that could have the greatest environmental benefit. Reducing the amount of animal protein in our diets was identified as a key behaviour. This fed into a wider piece of work that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was undertaking on developing A framework for pro-environmental behaviours.
Since then Green Alliance’s work on food policy has focused on the challenges associated with encouraging dietary behaviour change and, in particular, a diet lower in meat and dairy products. We have talked to a range of stakeholders in the meat, dairy and wider farming sectors, NGOs, academics and the government to see how, if at all, organisations are addressing this issue. Our briefing paper, Cutting our Carbs – food and the environment outlines our findings from these discussions and highlights what we see as the key actions going forward.
The UK's consumption of meat and dairy products is estimated to be responsible for eight per cent of our consumption related greenhouse gas emissions, compared to the six per cent created by air travel. The significant contribution of animal protein to our overall environmental impact is clear and unavoidable and will be integral to discussions about lowering the impact of our diets.
Drawing on our discussions with stakeholders we have looked at some of the opportunties for addressing the animal protein issue offered by the proposals set out in the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit's report, Food Matters, towards a strategy for the 21st century. We also identify where progress is still needed and explore what other actors, in addition to government, will have to do in addressing this challenge.
Cutting our carbs - food and the environment was launched at a seminar on Thursday 31 July at the Royal Society. Stephen Hale, director of Green Alliance, chaired the event and the speakers included Jonathon Porritt, chair of the Sustainable Development Commission and founder director of Forum for the Future, Chris Brown, head of ethical and sustainable sourcing at Asda and Bronwen Jones, head of Defra's food chain programme.
For more information on this project please contact Faye Scott.
Acknowledgements
Green Alliance would like to thank Defra and Asda for their support of this work.
