The global food system is "in ruins", reports a report



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Undernourishment, overweight, environmental damage … In a report published on Wednesday, the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) makes an abrupt observation: the food system is down.

The organization, which brings together 130 national academies of science and medicine from all over the world, has synthesized a work carried out over three years. It ensures that the food system is responsible for one third of all greenhouse gas emissions, more than all emissions from transport, heating, lighting and air conditioning.

Reduce meat consumption

More than 820 million people were hungry last year, while one third of the population was deficient in vitamins. At the same time, more than a billion tons of food wasted each year, a third of total production.

"The cost of damage to human health and the environment is far greater than the profits made by the agricultural sector," says Tim Benton, a professor of population ecology at the University of Leeds, a member of the groups who worked on this issue. report for three years.

The researchers are not content to draw a report, they also propose solutions as begins Sunday the COP24 in Katowice in Poland. Reducing the consumption of meat and dairy products would thus be the easiest way to reduce the impact of food consumption on the planet.

Fighting global warming would not even be possible without a "mbadive" reduction in meat consumption, warns the study. "It's vital to change our relationship with meat, especially red meat. But no expert in this field says that the world should be vegan or even vegetarian, "says Tim Benton.

In the poorest countries, meat, eggs or dairy products can play an important role in providing nutrients, especially for children. The report also calls for more resilient crops to climate change, soil protection, reduced pesticide use and innovations such as meat and laboratory-based insect foods.

Jean-Philippe Louis

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