By Daisy Quincey-Brooke – “200 million or more people have starved to death or died of hunger-related disease in the past two decades, and as many as a billion people are chronically undernourished today” (Ehrlich et al, 1993:2) [1]. 27 years later and around 2 billion people still don’t have regular access to safe and…
by Kathryn Vest – To what extent do the food choices you make impact your health and the environment? Agriculture and food production across the world account for 25% of all greenhouse gases1. The huge amounts of greenhouse gases released in agriculture and other areas of human society have caused temperatures to soar to unprecedented…
by Erin Jones – Approximately 2.9 billion hectares of land is affected by shifting cultivation globally[1]. Often named ‘slash and burn’, shifting cultivation is an age-old practice unique to tropical locations in Africa, Asia and Latin America[2]. It involves the cutting and burning of natural material, which is replaced by agricultural crops, followed by an…
by Amelia Jones – The biosphere, where all life on Earth is, faces such extreme stress that the UN warns we have 12 years before catastrophic consequences [1]. Environmental degradation is inevitable in a capitalist-driven world, therefore, it’s futile to tackle climate action, a major UN Sustainable Development Goal [2], without systemic change. Despite this, ethical…
by Charlotte Evans – Have you ever considered the negative impacts of offsetting climate change? Food security is a global issue that could be worsened through mitigation processes and it is something that 2 billion people currently suffer from [1]. Climate change and food security are both major global problems and both are linked to…
by Eleanor Egan – Meat Consumption has increased rapidly in the last century with a 20% expansion in the last decade alone[i]. This brings a host of environmental issues including effects on climate change. Developed countries are consuming over double the quantity of meat products compared to developing countries[ii], which has lead to unsustainable eating…
by Amrin Golam – Where do you buy your food? In the developed world, it has become the norm to go to local supermarkets. As we experience a nutrition transition on a global scale this is also becoming a more common occurrence in the developing world.[1] The growth of supermarkets is shifting the global diet.[2] This…
We all know we should aim to eat a healthy diet for ourselves, but have you considered the impacts of an unhealthy diet on the environment? Diets high in added sugars and saturated fats, are having a serious effect on the planet as well as human health. The Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable…
by Trang Kowalkowska – The Global Nutritional Report found that there are around ‘820 million hungry or undernourished people’ [1] and The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World estimated that about ‘3 billion people cannot afford a healthy diet’ [2]. The figures are expected to rise due to rapidly increasing population growth…