OPINION: Lifestyle Medicine – Feeding a world population of 10 billion

In spite of the fact that there is more than enough food produced in the world to nourish the current population of just under eight billion people, still almost 10% of the population goes hungry most days. Major causes of this are conflict and wars, famines, poverty, but also food wastage from poor storage or just oversupply to certain parts of the world.

But resources are limited, and as we look toward a rapidly expanding world population, scientists and policy makers are worried about sustainability of food supply for 10 billion people. Are present food practices and agricultural methods sufficient to supply enough food for such a large population, which could be reached in less than 30 years?

The EAT-Lancet commission was an attempt to provide good scientific answers to that predicament. Bringing together 37 leading scientists from across the globe, its report was presented in 2019. It proposed what constitutes a healthy diet from a sustainable food system, and what policy and social changes are necessary to implement that goal.

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It became clear that the present emphasis in Western countries of high dependence upon animal products and ultra-processed foods is unsustainable, especially when one considers the amount of agricultural effort in growing grains and proteins just to feed livestock and poultry for human consumption.

Large swathes of indigenous forests in Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia and countries in Africa are being cut down or burned to make way for grains, soya or palm oil production – most of which is used for animal feeds. This is clearly not good for ecology and future sustainability of our planet, nor for the health of our population.

What is a planetary health diet?

When we are dealing with global cultures and practices, such a diet has to be flexible and adaptable to all groups. It emphasizes a plant-rich diet where whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes comprise the greater proportion of foods consumed. But it does include a small amount of meat, fish and dairy.

In our next article we will discuss how these recommendations came about.

Dr Dave Glass

MBChB, FCOG(SA), DipIBLM.

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