Our world is facing a huge challenge: we need to create enough high-quality, diverse and nutritious food to feed a growing population and do so within the boundaries of our planet. Reducing the environmental impact of the global food system is something this means.
There are thousands of plant species that can be eaten for food. Ninety percent of global energy intake comes from 15 crop species, with more than half of the world's population relying on just three cereals.
Our latest research notes that the rise of ultra-processed foods is playing a major role in the ongoing change. Reducing our consumption and production of these foods offers a unique opportunity to improve our health and the environment of the food system.
Environmental change is driven by agriculture. It is responsible for one-third of all greenhouse gas emissions and 70 percent of freshwater use. 38 percent of global land is used by it.
There are environmental concerns linked to ultra-processed foods, and research has shown how western diet containing excessive calories and livestock products tend to have large environmental impacts.
The impacts of these foods on human health are well described, but the effects on the environment have not been considered. Ultra-processed foods are a dominant component of the food supply in high-income countries and sales are rapidly rising through low and middle-income countries too.
Our latest research, led by colleagues in Brazil, suggests that a high-consumption diet high in ultra-processed foods comes at the expense of traditional foods.
Ultra-processed foods are a group of foods that are mostly exclusive industrial use and are defined as formulations of ingredients.
They usually have little or no whole foods. You can think of them as difficult to make in your kitchen. Confectionery, soft drinks, chips, pre-prepared meals, and restaurant fast-food products are examples.
Fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, preserved legumes, dairy, and meat products, which are minimally processed or made using traditional processing methods, are in contrast to this.
Ensuring food safety and global food security is dependent on traditional processing methods. Ultra-processed foods are not necessary for food safety.
Ultra-processed food consumption is high in Australians. 39 percent of total intake energy for Australian adults is accounted for by these foods. This is more than Belgium, Brazil, Columbia, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, and Spain, but less than the United States.
According to an analysis of the most recent national data available on this, the ultra-processed foods that contributed the most energy for Australians aged two and above included ready-made meals, fast food, pastries, buns and cakes, breakfast cereals, fruit drinks, iced.
Ultra-processed foods rely on a small number of crop species, which places a burden on the environments in which these ingredients are grown.
Maize, wheat, soy, and oil seed crops are good examples. These crops are chosen by food manufacturers because they are cheap to produce and high yielding, which means they can be produced in large volumes.
Ultra-processed foods are made from animals which rely on the same crops as feed.
Fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, and dairy are no longer minimally-processed because of the rise of convenient and cheap ultra-processed foods. The quality of our diet has been reduced.
Sugar, wheat flour, vegetable oil, and milk were the most frequently used ingredients in Australia's packaged food and drink supply.
Cocoa, sugar, and vegetable oils are some of the ingredients used in ultra-processed foods.
Ultra-processed foods have an environmental impact. These foods are harmful and unnecessary for human nutrition. Diets high in ultra-processed foods are linked with poor health outcomes such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes, and cancer.
To counter this, food production resources across the world could be re-routed into producing healthier, less processed foods. Grains such as wheat, maize, and rice are used to make refined breads, cakes, donuts, and other bakery products.
These could be used to make more healthy foods such as wholemeal bread or pasta. This would contribute to improving global food security and also provide more buffer against natural disasters and conflicts in major breadbasket areas.
The use of certain ingredients could be avoided altogether. Demand for palm oil, a common ingredient in ultra-processed foods, could be reduced through consumers shifting their preferences towards healthier foods.
Reducing your consumption of ultra-processed foods is one way to reduce your environmental footprint and improve your health.
Mark Lawrence, Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, and Kim Anastasiou are PhD candidates.
This article is free to use under a Creative Commons license. The original article is worth a read.
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