Indian eating pattern is best for Earth, replicating it can save our planet: WWF Living Planet Report

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)’s Living Planet Report released Thursday (Oct 10) emphasised India’s food consumption pattern as the most sustainable among the big economies (G20 countries). The report also mentioned that if the world follows India’s pattern it would be least damaging to Earth to support food production by 2050.

The report put Argentina, Australia and the US’s food consumption patterns in the worst category and opined that it can lead to exceeding the global warming limit.

"If everyone in the world adopted the current food consumption patterns of the world’s major economies by 2050, we exceed the 1.5° Celsius climate (warming limit) target for food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 263 per cent and require one to seven Earths to support us," the report says, and also made a special mention of India's Millet Mission.

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According to the paper, if all countries follow India's current consumption patterns, the globe will require "less than one planet" (0.84) to support food production by 2050. The Indian scenario is even somewhat better than the planetary climate boundary for food, which is the greatest amount of greenhouse gas emissions that food systems can generate to keep under 1.5° Celsius of the warming limit.

According to the report, the world will require 7.4 more Earths to match the food production if it follows Argentina’s consumption tendencies. Argentina has the weakest pattern in terms of food production sustainability, followed by Australia, the United States, Brazil, France, Italy, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Among the best food consumption patterns, India is the best-performing country, followed by Indonesia, China, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

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The report also praised India’s Millet Mission, which is a government initiative that aims to increase the production and cultivation of millets, a small-grained cereal that is high in nutrition and can grow in marginal lands. The report reiterates that this ancient grain is not only beneficial for health but also a very resilient nutri-cereal in the face of climate change.

"Eating more sustainable diets would reduce the amount of land needed to produce food: grazing land, in particular, could be freed up for other purposes, including nature restoration and carbon sequestration," according to the study.

The report also encourages healthy alternative protein sources such as legumes and Nutri-cereals, plant-based meat substitutes, and nutritionally rich algae species.

(With inputs from agencies)