Giving Compass' Take:

• Changing eating habits to include more plants and less or no meat is challenging for countries where people still struggle to meet their nutritional needs.

• Lower carbon diets should be more ambitious to achieve food security. What can donors do to help support food security in the future? 

• Here's an article on ensuring food security through community-driven change.

New research from Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future shows that no single diet can cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and that policymakers should support diets that fall in line with national nutrition requirements, culture, and trade.

“Our research indicates there’s no one-size-fits-all diet to address the climate and nutrition crises,” says Dr. Keeve Nachman, senior author of the study, in a press release. “Context is everything, and the food production policies for each country must reflect that.”

The study, “Country-specific dietary shifts to mitigate climate and water crises,” looks at how shifting to diets with a lower carbon footprint in 140 countries affects emissions and freshwater use. The results could guide policymakers in providing enough, nutritious, climate-friendly food that fits national tastes, the authors say.

If all countries would adopt the typical diet of high-income countries—hypercaloric, and rich in meat and dairy—then GHG emissions and water footprints related to diets would soar by 135 percent and 47 percent respectively, the researchers warn. Recent reports have shown fast industrialization in countries such as China is driving a strong shift towards the Western diet.

Switching to veganism which has the lowest footprint per capita across all 140 countries studied, could cut GHG emissions by as much as 70 percent per person, says the report. In the United States, for example, vegans would cause only 16 percent of the emissions of animal-based diets, even if they ate more to get all their nutrients. But it is highly unlikely that countries can shift entirely to a single diet, the authors say.

Read the full article about the importance of a more plant-based diet by Alexandra Popescu at Food Tank.