The way we currently consume and produce our food in the Anthropocene – the current geological age where human activity is the dominant driver of changes on earth – is one of the greatest health and environmental challenges of the 21st century. More than 820 million people have insufficient food and many more consume an unhealthy diet that contributes to premature death and disease. Moreover, global food production is the human activity that is placing the most pressure on earth, threatening local ecosystems and the stability of the Earth system.
The urgency of this challenge has brought together more than 30 world-leading scientists from various fields of human health and environmental sustainability to carry out the first full scientific review of what constitutes a healthy diet from a sustainable food system. Published today, Food in the Anthropocene: the Eat-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems* sets out six global scientific targets to achieve healthy diets and sustainable production by 2050.
