Many experts agree that our current food system is not fit for purpose. After all, we live in a world where almost 800 million people are obese while a similar number – 821 million – still go hungry. Poor diets are linked to malnutrition and disease, and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), no country is unaffected. In the European Union, depending on the country, 30 to 70 percent of adults count as overweight, and obesity affects 10 to 30 percent.

Our diets are damaging not just our own health but also that of our planet. A 2012 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report observed that we are living as if we had an extra planet at our disposal, and at this rate, by 2030 even an extra two planets wouldn’t be enough. Just take our consumption of beef. It is an everyday food for a growing number of people, but it requires 20 times more land and results in 20 times more greenhouse gas emissions per unit of protein than beans or lentils.

As Western-style diets become more popular in rapidly developing countries, demand for meat is growing. Tim Searchinger, Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute in Washington D.C., USA, draws the conclusion that “the people who eat large amounts of beef and lamb today have to hold down their consumption, making it possible to produce enough meat so that others can eat a little more.” In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, many people could benefit from the protein and iron gained through eating more meat.

Recent trends suggest there is actually a growing awareness, particularly among young urban consumers, that we need to eat less meat. There has been a rise in “flexitarians” – people who have a primarily vegetarian diet but occasionally eat meat or fish. A survey in the United Kingdom found that 14 percent of the British identify as flexitarian. The U.K. has also embraced veganism: in 2018, 16 percent of all new food product launches were vegan, more than in any other country. Variations on Meat-free Monday have spread to more than 40 countries in the past 10 years.

Food is an emotive subject. It plays a central role in our social lives and culture, so changing diets is not easy. Sara Roversi’s organization recognizes this, while working to improve sustainability in the global food ecosystem. We ask her how we can improve our diets and still enjoy what we eat.

Why do people often persist in eating what they know to be unhealthy food?
We are not driven by what is right but by pleasure and by our own past, so it’s tough to change behavior. Think about the occasions when people come together, at big sporting events for example, and how much unhealthy food you find there like hot dogs, hamburgers, and soda. Yet these are occasions where people are having a good time, sharing positive emotions with relatives and friends, so the connection with unhealthy food is tied with some of their most positive experiences in life. That is why we are working with sponsors to make them aware of the damage they are causing, maybe without realizing it.

What’s the best way to permanently change poor diets?
It’s not just knowledge, it’s also about mindset. Over the last decade, everything has been focused on shape and efficiency, on creating the perfect, round tomato without considering its flavor or juiciness. What if tomorrow we started evaluating whether a product is good or not based only on its taste? If you work backward from there, the soil and production methods will be different, and distribution chains will be shorter.

The Mediterranean diet is considered to be very healthy. Why is that?
When we talk about the Mediterranean diet we are not just talking about ingredients, but also about culture – how you share meals and when you eat them. Food is a crucial part of human identity. It’s part of our DNA. The healthiest diets are those that have the deepest roots in history and tradition. In the past, food was more connected with health, because food was the starting point for medicine, so traditional diets are healthier in origin. That’s why I don’t think the right approach is to say that everyone should adopt a Mediterranean diet without considering the context. What matters is that we should eat food that is good for us, good for the planet and in balance with the culture of the place where we live.

Do these trends have a positive net impact? Possibly, but as Michael Siegrist, Professor of Consumer Behavior at ETH Zurich in Switzerland, points out, eating soy or tofu on top of an otherwise unsustainable diet will not improve matters. “We don’t know whether people are reducing their meat consumption by substituting beef with these new products, or eating these new products in addition to meat,” he says. And not every new health product is more sustainable. Almond milk, for example, a popular type of non-dairy milk, is derived from a very water-intensive crop.
Food choices depend on many factors – wealth, culture, availability and personal taste. There is no one-size-fits-all diet that is healthy and sustainable for everyone in the world. Perhaps one answer for people in countries where more choice exists lies in making recommendations that are more specifically aimed at the individual.