Our world faces a major challenge in drastically reducing the environmental impact of the global food system in light of the need to produce enough high-quality, diverse and nutritious food to feed a growing population from within the borders of the planet, according to a report published by the Boldsky website that includes quotes from The Conversation Magazine.
There are more than 7000 types of edible plants that can be consumed as food. But today, 90% of global energy intake comes from 15 types of crops, with more than half of the world’s population dependent on just three grain crops: rice, wheat and maize.
And the latest studies suggest that the rise of ultra-processed foods is likely to play a major role in this ongoing change. Thus, reducing global consumption and production of these foods could provide a unique opportunity to improve human health and maintain the environmental sustainability of the food system.
Effects on the diet
Agriculture is a major driver of environmental change, as it is responsible for a third of greenhouse gas emissions and about 70% of fresh water use. It also uses 38% of the world’s land and is the biggest driver of biodiversity loss.
While research has highlighted how Western diets containing excessive calories and animal products can have significant environmental impacts, there are also environmental concerns associated with ultra-processed foods.
The effects of ultra-processed foods on human health are well described, but their negative effects on the environment have not received much attention. Surprisingly, ultra-processed foods are the dominant component of the food supply in high-income countries (and sales are rising rapidly in low- and middle-income countries as well).
One of the latest scientific papers, conducted by scientists in Brazil, warns that increasingly globalized diets high in ultra-processed foods are coming at the expense of the cultivation, processing and consumption of “traditional” foods.
Ultra-processed foods
Ultra-processed foods are defined as a group of foods comprising “combinations of a number of contents and ingredients, mostly for exclusively industrial uses, that result from a series of industrial processes”.
They usually contain little or no cosmetic additives and whole foods. They can be thought of as foods that cannot be easily prepared at home. Examples of ultra-processed foods include sweets, soft drinks, chips, ready meals, and fast-food products in restaurants.
In contrast, there are “traditional” foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, preserved legumes, dairy products, and meat, that are minimally processed or manufactured using traditional processing methods.
While traditional processing such as fermentation, canning and packaging are essential to ensuring food safety and global food security, ultra-processed foods are manufactured beyond what is necessary for food safety.
Australians have particularly high rates of ultra-processed food consumption, which accounts for 39% of total energy intake among Australian adults. High levels are also consumed in Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico and Spain, but are lower than in the United States, where ultra-processed foods account for 57.9% of the dietary energy of American adults.
According to the Australian Health Survey analysis, the ultra-processed foods that contributed the most dietary energy for Australians aged two and over included ready meals, fast food, pastries, bread, cakes, breakfast cereals, fruit drinks, iced tea and desserts.
environmental influences
Ultra-processed foods also rely on a small number of crop species, which places a strain on the environments in which their ingredients are grown. Good examples are corn, wheat, soy and oilseed crops (eg palm oil). These crops are chosen by food manufacturers because they are cheap to produce and high in yield, which means they can be produced in large quantities.
The animal-derived ingredients in ultra-processed foods are also obtained from animals that rely on these same crops as feed.
The advent of cheap, over-processed convenience foods has led to the replacement of a variety of minimally processed whole foods including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes, meat and dairy products, resulting in reduced quality of diets and a diversification of the food supply.
In Australia, the most commonly used ingredients in the 2019 packaged food and beverage supply were 40.7% sugar, 15.6% wheat flour, 12.8% vegetable oil and 11% milk. Certain ingredients used in ultra-processed foods such as cocoa, sugar and some vegetable oils are closely linked to biodiversity loss.
Precautionary steps
The environmental impact of ultra-processed foods can be avoided, as they are harmful to humans and unnecessary in nutrition. Diets rich in ultra-processed foods are associated with poor health outcomes, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, cancer, depression and other diseases.
Confronting the threat of ultra-processed foods requires that resources for food production around the world be redirected to produce healthier, less processed foods. For example, globally, large quantities of grains such as wheat, corn and rice are milled into refined flour to produce refined bread, cakes, donuts and other bakery products.
They can be redirected to produce more nutritious foods such as whole wheat bread or pasta.
This step could contribute to improving global food security and provide more protection against natural disasters and conflict in major food basket areas.
Other environmental resources can be saved by completely avoiding the use of certain ingredients. For example, the demand for palm oil (a common ingredient in ultra-processed foods and linked to deforestation in Southeast Asia) can be significantly reduced by shifting consumers’ preferences towards healthier foods.
Reducing the consumption of ultra-processed foods at the individual level is one way in which we can reduce each person’s ecological footprint while also improving their health.