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Food

Fresh vegetables on market stall

The food we produce is putting our planet’s natural environment under stress including:   

  • the Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions emitted during the production and distribution of food
  • by cutting down forests so that food can be grown or cattle graze – affecting wildlife and habitats in sensitive regions such as the Amazon and the Cerrado regions of Brazil
  • water used for growing crops, which affects sensitive environments.

In the UK, the food we eat – growing, producing and importing it – has a massive impact around the world and is responsible for 30% of our CO2 emissions (including emissions resulting from deforestation/land-use change).

The challenge

How do we reduce the impact of the food we consume and feed the world's growing population?

While a quarter of the world’s population do not have enough food, over 40% of the world’s grain harvest is fed to livestock. Predominantly meat-based diets, like we have in the UK, are very inefficient. Farming animals for meat and dairy requires huge inputs of land and water for growing animal feed - on average, 6kg of plant protein is required to produce just 1kg of meat protein. If we want to protect our natural environment, we will therefore need to reconsider not only how we produce our food but also what we eat.

What is WWF doing about it?

If we are to achieve a future where people and nature thrive together, we need to reconsider the types of food we eat in the UK and where and how our food is produced.

We are working work with and influencing key players in the UK food industry – including retailers, producers, food processors, governments and charities – to transform the way UK food is supplied. This will involve looking at a variety of issues, including the way food is produced and consumed, how it is financed and the way the food sector is governed.

We are also working with the international WWF Network to create sustainable solutions for key commodities – such as fish, soy, beef or palm oil – that threaten particularly important habitats and species.

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