New plant-focused diet would ‘transform’ planet’s future, say scientists

'Planetary health diet' would prevent millions of deaths a year and avoid climate change

The first science-based diet that tackles both the poor food eaten by billions of people and averts global environmental catastrophe has been devised. It requires huge cuts in red meat-eating in western countries and radical changes across the world.

The "planetary health diet" was created by an international commission seeking to draw up guidelines that provide nutritious food to the world's fast-growing population. At the same time, the diet addresses the major role of farming - especially livestock - in driving climate change, the destruction of wildlife and the pollution of rivers and oceans.