Eat 'no more than three portions of meat a week' to save planet, report says

Everyone should eat no more than three portions of meat a week to save the planet, a landmark report finds.

The 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission says food production is “exceeding planetary boundaries” and has come up with a diet of mainly fruit and vegetables. It concluded the diet, low in meat and dairy, also cuts our risk of early death by 27% and would save 15 million deaths globally each year from preventable diseases linked to poor diets.

A previous EAT-Lancet Commission report in 2019 put our average daily meat intake at 147g and latest guidance advises it should be shrunk and mostly replaced by beans, peas, soy and nuts.

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It also says dairy consumption should be cut with no more than one portion a day of milk, cheese or yogurt.

The aim is to use land for farming better suited to feeding the global population which is set to hit 10 billion by 2050. Animal farming uses more land than crops and vast swathes of our remaining rain forests are being lost to make space for it.

The ‘Planetary Health Diet’ recommends red meat be restricted to one portion of up to 200g a week and poultry such as chicken or turkey capped at two portions, or 400g.

Johan Rockström, commission co-chair and director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, said: “The report sets out the clearest guidance yet for feeding a growing population without breaching the safe operating space on Earth set by the planetary boundaries.”

Planetary boundaries are defined as the thresholds that keep the "life support" system of the planet which humans rely on stable and to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The Lancet report found that current global food systems contribute to 30% of greenhouse gas emissions and are the largest driver of "planetary boundary transgressions" through their impact on climate, biodiversity, freshwater consumption and changes in how land is used.

The wealthiest 30% of the global population are responsible for 70% of the overall environmental pressures caused by food systems. The Planetary Health Diet is a way the 9.6 billion people on Earth could eat nutritiously and fairly within environmental boundaries by 2050.

What is the diet?

The commission, which comprised of experts from 35 countries across six continents, recommends the following:

• Whole grains - around 150g or three to four servings per day
• Fruit and vegetables - 500g or at least five servings per day
• Nuts - 25g or one serving per day
• Legumes, such as beans, chickpeas and lentils - 75g or one serving per day
• Fish - up to 700g or two servings per week
• Eggs - 3 or 4 per week
• Dairy products, such as milk, cheese or yogurt - up to 500g or one serving per day

The diet also calls for limiting added sugars, saturated fats and salt - often found in processed foods. Experts calculate sticking to this diet would cut your risk of premature death by 27%, as well as lowering your risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

Food production is also a source of greenhouse gas and pollution. The findings suggest if the entire world shifted to the planetary health diet and there were strong climate policies to reduce emissions, greenhouse gas emissions could drop by more than half. This would be equivalent to removing emissions from all coal-fired power plants globally.

The commission also called for action to protect remaining forests, wetlands, and other natural habitats which help clear greenhouse gas emissions by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.

The team of global experts also called on governments to take action to tax unhealthy, processed foods and subsidise healthy fresh foods like fruit and veg.

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Ruth Westcott, spokeswoman for the Sustain alliance for better food and farming, said: “The Government needs to make eating heathy food the easy choice that fits into people's lives. We know people want to eat well but the people who actually grow our food are barely covering their costs while the big supermarkets rack up huge profits.”

Josiah Meldrum, founder of Hodmedod ltd, a farming collaborative growing pulses and legumes in the UK, said: “Any shift to healthier and greener diets represents a huge opportunity for farmers. We should be growing a much greater variety of vegetables and pulses here in the UK, for our health and for the ecosystems we rely on.

“But it is very hard for farmers to make a decent living and we need proper investment from the government to make it happen.”