Processed foods  

Highly or ultra processed foods (UPFs) are often high in fats, sugar and salt (HFSS) and now dominate the UK’s typical diet, making up 56% of calories consumed by older children and adults. Not only do these foods contribute significantly to increased risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, they also lead to major environmental harms. Studies show increased consumption of these foods has a negative impact on the natural environment, on water use and exacerbate climate change.   

But how? Processed foods rely on abundant, cheap raw ingredients being available all year round. This results in vast areas of monocultures with fewer crop rotations and are dependent on high use of chemicals, meaning less diversity for wildlife and overall nature loss. Much of the significant land use involved in growing unhealthy, unnecessary foods, here and overseas, could be better used to deliver outcomes better serving society.   

Meat and dairy  

Not all systems are the same - there are huge variations around the impacts on nature, climate and welfare and many great farmers - but we can’t ignore some basic facts. Livestock systems use a disproportionately high amount of land, both as feed (40% of the land used to grow crops in the UK goes towards feeding animals reared for meat) and as pasture compared to cereal, fruit and vegetable production. The associated chemicals, antibiotics and added nutrient pollution is having a huge impact on nature.   

Most poultry and pigs are now reared in intensive housed systems with high numbers of animals concentrated into small areas. This may well drive down meat prices but it also leads to environmental pollution, overconsumption and pressure for further intensification. These systems demand cheap feed inputs - like soy protein, leading to deforestation and biodiversity loss in formerly nature-rich areas like the Amazon rainforest and the tropical savanna Cerrado, in Brazil - whilst the pollution arising from concentrated animal housing in the UK is leading to environmental disasters such as the poisoning of the River Wye as a result of intensive chicken faming. Ruminants like cows and sheep bred for meat have the added impact of methane release, which alone could drive the world past 1.5°C of global heating.  

More plant-based diets are better for nature and climate, as recognised by the UK Government’s own Climate Change Committee, and they’re also better for our health.  The current protein consumption levels in the UK are much higher than needed and we can make space in our diets for inexpensive, healthy and nutritious plant proteins such as beans and pulses. By eating less meat, a greater proportion of animal products could be sourced from agroecological, higher welfare systems which support carbon storage, tackle nitrogen waste and can help to restore nature-rich ecosystems. A better plant-based diet has been calculated to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions (by 5.6 MtCO2e per year through agroecological solutions, and by between 6.9 and 17.26 MtCO2e yr-1 through a dietary shift).   

Used in the right way, livestock can be a positive for nature outcomes. Many Wildlife Trusts use low levels of livestock for conservation on nature reserves to manage delicate habitats, like meadows, that require well-managed extensive systems to deliver outcomes for wildlife. Without natural predators in the UK, it is often necessary for them to enter the food chain. There is no doubt that individuals choosing to eat less meat, alongside sourcing livestock products from agroecological and regenerative systems that offer fair rewards for farmers could make more space for nature whilst helping to increase farm sustainability. 

Fresh fruit, vegetables, pulses  

One of the critical ways to improve the nation’s health and help more people to adopt sustainable diets whilst supporting farmers, is through increased production and consumption of fruit, vegetables and pulses. Today only 17% of the fruit we eat and 55% of our vegetables are produced in the UK. Our capacity to grow our own has decreased significantly due to previous subsidies, retailer prices and demands (such as for cosmetic standards). Increasingly unstable climate conditions also mean the UK’s domestic horticulture production is falling dramatically.   

Meanwhile huge amounts of UK vegetables are grown on carbon-rich, lowland peat soils that need to be restored from carbon emission sources to carbon sinks by rewetting. In addition, much of our imported produce, such as salad, vegetables and berries are from water-stressed areas around the world. Our new report, Home-grown: A roadmap to resilient fruit and vegetable production in England details seven key changes – from support for nature-friendly farming, peat-free growing and investing in local infrastructure and public procurement - that are needed to deliver more and better fruit and vegetable production and consumption. 

 This isn’t about consumers vs farmers – this is about system change  

People don’t like to be told what they should or should not eat, whether by a doctor, a celebrity or a conservation charity! There are big barriers to change and diet is a deeply embedded element of many different cultures but surveys show the public do want things to change. 

Recent UK Government recognition of the need to prevent ill health by curbing marketing and advertising of HFSS foods is welcome but more should be done to curb marketing of unsustainable unhealthy food. Food companies spend millions on marketing and advertising with highly effective tools resulting in more sales of unhealthy, over-processed foods and diets based on an excess of cheap meat and dairy, with too little fruit, vegetables, and pulses.   

This also leads to less returns for farmers, with huge value extracted through the supply chain. New policies must ensure farmers receive the right signals around what and how to grow for nature restoration and they must have fair rewards. Regulations, incentives, fiscal measures, public food procurement standards and other tools can all help drive the changes in the supply chain and our diets to avoid damage or long-term harm to wildlife, animals or people.

As world leaders meet at the global biodiversity summit, COP16, such land use impacts should be high on the agenda.  At home, policy changes must drive action in the right direction. The Wildlife Trusts are members of the Eating Better Alliance, which works on pathways – both within policy and across industry - to reduce the impacts of animal farming and meat production and consumption; they also promote alternative protein and explore what ‘better’ meat looks like. This alliance and the work of The Wildlife Trusts helps increase awareness of the issues and actions people can take to demand more of policy makers.