Global economic benefits of eating better (2024)

Current dietary patterns, dominated by a combination of overconsumption, lack of essential nutrients and high levels of consumption of processed meats, sugar and salt, are responsible for around one third of preventable disease and death in adults globally. Moreover, high meat consumption is unsustainably resource-intensive and is highly polluting of the climate and wider environment. Yet, the “hidden” costs of ill-health from poor diet and from the greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen pollution and habitat loss from food production are rarely fully investigated. This chapter discusses work from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to estimate the hitherto unaccounted global and regional costs of current diets, and from the Food System Economic Commission to estimate the potential economic benefits gained by healthier diets. It concludes that to fully unlock these benefits, progressive and cost-effective actions are needed by governments, industry and citizens and more research is required in understanding and managing the transformation costs, livelihood transitions and the role of behavioural and economic incentives for dietary change.

You can view this scientific paper online, here.