A recent report found that the food consumption patterns in India are the most sustainable amongst the major economies in the world. The report titled, ‘Living Planet Report 2024’, by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said that India emerged as the most sustainable nation in the category.
The study noted that if other nations follow India’s lead in its dietary habits, the environmental burden of food production could be reduced drastically, reported Moneycontrol. The findings revealed that India’s food consumption would need less than one Earth (0.84) to sustain food production demands by 2050. This positioned India as a role model for countries for sustainable eating.
Meanwhile, nations like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Argentina were found as less sustainable in terms of their food consumption patters. The report noted that Argentina, specifically, would require 7.42 Earths to meet its food production requirements.
The study also cautioned that if the world adopted the consumption patterns currently followed by G20 nations by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions related to food production could exceed the 1.5 degree Celsuis climate target by a whopping 263 per cent.
Australia and the US, where the diet is resource-based, were found as the key contributors to the challenge and would require 6.83 and 5.55 Earths respectively to manage their food production at the current levels.
In comparison, the study found that Indonesia and India were the most climate-friendly countries, where India dominated the ranking due to its plant-based food culture and focus on grains such as millets.
The study called for enhanced adoption of sustainable diets in the world as this can prevent land degradation and help in nature restoration. “Eating more sustainable diets would reduce the amount of land needed for food production... including nature restoration and carbon sequestration,” the report said.
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