Drive forward the transformation of animal-product-heavy dietary habits in industrialized countries 3.4
3.4 Drive forward the transformation of animal- product-heavy dietary habits in industrialized countries The global food system threatens all three dimensions of the trilemma: above all, in industrialized countries and among the growing middle classes in developing countries, dietary habits that are heavy in animal products are exacerbating land-related problems connected to climate-change mitigation, biodiversity conservation and food security. A change in values away from factory farming and towards lower meat consumption has already begun in Europe. This incipient transformation can be given a decisive boost by resolutely changing framework conditions and setting new standards. The food system, which encompasses all activities from food production to consumption, is one of the main drivers of the land-use trilemma (Section 2.2): because of industrial production practices, the food system has a negative impact on the environment through pollution and the consumption of natural resources (water, forests, soil, biodiversity); it also exacerbates climate change. It drives the loss of biodiversity (e.g. affecting the global nitrogen and phosphorus cycles) and simultaneously causes nutritional deficiencies, which, almost paradoxically, manifest themselves on the one hand in undernutrition for more than 690 million people and, on the other, in massive overnutrition for more than 1.9 billion people (WHO, 2020; Welthungerhilfe, 2019). The EAT-Lancet report (Willett et al., 2019) identifies these deficiencies and calls the associated dietary habits ‘lose-lose-diets’ because of their environmental and health-related shortcomings. With reference to the trilemma dimensions described above (Section 2.2), it would be more appropriate to speak of ‘lose-lose-lose’ dietary habits, since biodiversity, climate and food security are all threatened. The WBGU supports the call made in relevant reports (Willett et al., 2019; FOLU, 2019) to align global nutrition with the proposed Planetary Health Diet (PHD). Recent global assessment reports (e.g. FOLU, 2019: 69f.; IPCC, 2019b) cite a ”lack of awareness” among consumers as an important barrier to food-system transformation. This refers to barriers that seem to be created by the consumers themselves, e.g. laziness, non-sustainable cultural preferences, or a lack of willingness to pay higher prices. It is
therefore necessary to systematically examine the socio-cultural factors of this actor group’s consumption patterns, their potential and contextual constraints (such as supply, pricing). On the one hand, consumers, especially in industrialized countries and the growing middle classes in developing countries and emerging economies, have great potential to advance the transformation of the food system, as is shown in some trends and niche activities. On the other hand, contextual conditions are powerful and hitherto not very beneficial, so that sustainable dietary habits (especially reducing consumption of animal products) are not given sufficient support. From a normative perspective (normative compass, WBGU, 2016a, 2019b; Box 2.31), two aspects are of particular importance. First, the transformation of dietary habits must begin in the industrialized countries, since western consumption patterns, which have already spread widely all over the globe, now threaten the natural life-support systems of the global population and will continue to do so in the future (compass dimension of ‘inclusion’). Second, when shaping the transformation of dietary habits, it must be taken into account that dietary habits are cultural in origin and help to form people’s identity (compass dimension of ‘Eigenart’, which also takes the plurality of transformation paths into account). In view of these considerations, the WBGU recommends creating corresponding (new) governmental and structural framework conditions in the industrialized countries in the short term, conditions which not only allow but also encourage consumers (for instance through new guidelines) to adopt win-win-win dietary habits that create space for successful climate-change mitigation and biodiversity conservation by freeing up areas of land without threatening food security. This idea can link up with trends and niche activities (Section 4.1; WBGU’s understanding of transformation; WBGU, 2011).
3.4.1 Statement of the problem: the global food system
3.4.1.1 Definition and development of the food system The food system comprises the totality of activities from the production to the consumption of food. This includes the services from upstream and downstream sectors of agriculture, as well as the environmental, societal and economic impacts of these activities (Gómez et al., 2011). The climate and biodiversity crises (Section 2.2) are either greatly influenced by the food system or influence the system themselves (Ingram,
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