Giving Compass' Take:

• Reducing the global burden of disease will require individuals to shift their diet to protective foods, and start on a food plan that is "minimum risk."

• The author suggests that more investment in research on protective foods is needed. How can donors start this process? 

• Read about these 12 plant-based foods coming to market in 2019.  

The EAT-Lancet report, in addition to a few others that have been published recently, concludes that to sustainably nourish—not simply feed—10 billion people without overtaxing the planet’s resources by 2050, the food system would need to make five adjustments:

  1. Shift diets towards a “minimum risk” diet, with less meat and more vegetable and fruit consumption;
  2. Close the yield gap in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia;
  3. Reallocate land from calorie-dense to nutrient-dense foods;
  4. Reduce food loss and waste by half; and
  5. Improve the health of our oceans.

These adjustments are not only important for achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Agreement—they are also critical if we want to live longer and healthier lives.

The Rockefeller Foundation has made substantial investments to help increase agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa through the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). More recently, the Foundation led the movement toward food loss and waste reduction, through our YieldWise initiative. This investment is starting to pay off as awareness, investment, and action in this area continues to grow.

Shifting toward a minimum risk diet is the single most important intervention to improve nutrition, reduce the burden of disease, and promote environmental sustainability.

To make a meaningful contribution toward this goal, significant obstacles need to be overcome. First, we would need to prioritize research funding for these “protective foods,” as historically there has been underinvestment. These efforts would bring new, better-adapted, and more nutritious varieties into the production system. Second, smart investments in value chain infrastructure and efficiency would help to bring production costs down, making these foods more locally available and affordable while increasing their shelf life.

Read the full article about focusing on protective foods by Rafael Flor at The Rockefeller Foundation.