Our health: There are foods that could be described as ‘climate friendly’. Coincidentally, these same foods are also the best friends of our health. Eliana Liotta explains this very clearly in her book Il cibo che ci salverà (The food that will save us). It is a truly illuminating read for anyone who wants to embrace a way of eating that is both healthy and environmentally sustainable.
But let us begin with a premise. According to FAO estimates, livestock emit a quantity of greenhouse gases roughly equal to the emissions of all the world’s lorries, cars, aircraft and ships put together. It sounds hard to believe, but it is true.
Also according to the FAO, red meat provides only 1% of the calories for the world’s population, yet accounts for 25% of all emissions from agriculture and livestock farming.
Greenpeace then put intensive farming ‘under investigation’ with regard to the formation of PM 2.5 fine particulate matter. And it found that such farms contribute, and how. In Italy, between 1990 and 2018, pollution from road transport, industry and energy production fell, while pollution linked to livestock farming rose by 10%.
If, on the other hand, we were to double our consumption of plant foods by 2050 and halve our consumption of sugars, refined flours and red and processed meats, global warming would be significantly curbed. According to The Lancet, at least 11.5 million premature deaths a year caused by wrong and harmful eating habits would be avoided.
