Dorota Giżyńska The World Is What You Eat

Our dietary decisions may benefit both people and the environment, enhancingenhancing [enhance]enhancing our personal health as well as that of others and the health of the globe. However, an excessiveexcessiveexcessive reliance onreliance onreliance on a limited type of foods, a lacklacklack of varietyvarietyvariety in our meals, and the ongoingongoingongoing use of products that are not produced sustainablysustainablysustainably have a negative effect on the environment.

Due to our dietary habits, practically every nation in the world faces significant food problems, whether it’s obesityobesityobesity or undernutritionundernutritionundernutrition. Given the choice of food you see in supermarkets, it may be surprising to learn that our diets are too limited across the globe. Historically, more than 6,000 crops have been used to produce food, but only 9% of it, which is fewer than 200 crops, account foraccount foraccount for current food production. As a result of this lack of diversitydiversitydiversity in our diet, we become less resistant toresistant toresistant to pestspests [pest]pests or illnesses in our food supply, which also results inresult inresults in decreased diversity in nature.

There are also negative effects on both human and planetary health from the widespreadwidespreadwidespread consumption of meat and other animal‑sourced foods by many individuals in developing, developed, and underdeveloped countries. What’s more, meat is largely produced in an unsustainableunsustainable unsustainable mannermannermanner. OverfishingoverfishingOverfishing poses a threat not just to our fish stocks, but also the entire ocean environment. Too many of the crops we consume are produced on recently convertedconverted [convert]converted land and do not follow nature‑friendly production techniques that preservepreservepreserve soil and water quality for future crop growth.

Since local cultures and personal preferences play a significant role in influencing people's diets, they should also be recognised and respected. Healthy, well‑balanced, variedvariedvaried and sustainablesustainablesustainable diets will change depending on where you live and the locally and culturally appropriate foods that are available. People who followfollowfollow these diets should try not to rely excessivelyexcessivelyexcessively on any particular commodity. There is no need to completely cut anything out of our diets, even though certain individuals and societies could benefit frombenefit frombenefit from consuming less of particular foods. We can put more effortefforteffort into making sure the range of foods we eat is well produced. We can eat the foods we love, but we should try to eliminate products which result in deforestationdeforestationdeforestation or destruction of wildlife habitat, deteriorationdeteriorationdeterioration of water and soil quality, or unreasonably increased greenhouse gas emissions.

Meals made from plants often have a smaller environmental impact than foods made from animals. As a result, we may lessenlessenlessen our influence on the environment, as a global society, by eating more plant‑based foods, provided that they are readily available, reasonablyreasonablyreasonably priced, and able to meet each person’s nutritionalnutritionalnutritional requirements. For many communities, sustainably raised meat and fish are important sources of sustenancesustenancesustenance. In other places, they can also be important for managing the landscape and preserving ecosystem services. We should consume the easily accessible food that is good for our health, our livelihoods, and the environment.

1 Źródło: Dorota Giżyńska, [na podstawie:] https://www.yogurtinnutrition.com/infographic-sustainable-healthy-diets-from-science-to-your-plate/ [dostęp 7.08.2022], https://wwf.panda.org/discover/our_focus/food_practice/sustainable_diets/ [dostęp 7.08.2022], https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/what-is-a-sustainable-diet.html [dostęp 7.08.2022], https://www.buffalo.edu/globalhealthequity/global-projects/foodequity.html [dostęp 7.08.2022], https://www.fao.org/3/ca6640en/ca6640en.pdf [dostęp 7.08.2022], licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.