Explained: What global food industry costs human health and environment | Explained News, The Indian Express

Explained: What global food industry costs human health and environment | Explained News, The Indian Express

By Express News Service |New Delhi |Updated: September 17, 2019 9:24:19 am

Explained: What global food industry costs human health and environment

The report calls for the world to diversify its food production and consumption. Global over-dependence on a relatively small number of staple foods leaves populations vulnerable to crop failures, with climate change adding to the strain, it said.

The report proposes a series of solutions, from encouraging more diverse diets to improve health and reduce dependency on specific crops, to giving more support to the types of farming that can restore forests, a key tool in fighting climate change.

A new global study has quantified the damage that the modern food industry does to human health, development and the environment costs. The “hidden cost” to the world is $12 trillion a year — equivalent to China’s GDP — says the study by the Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), a global alliance of economists and scientists.