A new report provides increasing evidence that global food production and consumption will have to change quite dramatically for the world to be able to sustainably feed a global population of more than 10 billion people by 2050. That includes a radically different food production in Iowa that would be far more diverse and sustainable than it is today.  

The EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health assembled more than 30 world-leading scientists from across the globe to reach a scientific consensus that defines a healthy and sustainable diet. The commission recently delivered the first full scientific review of what constitutes a healthy diet from a sustainable food system, and which actions can support and speed up food system transformation. 

As the report states: “Agriculture and fisheries must not only produce enough calories to feed a growing global population but must also produce a diversity of foods that nurture human health and support environmental sustainability. Alongside dietary shifts, agricultural and marine policies must be reoriented toward a variety of nutritious foods that enhance biodiversity rather than aiming for increased volume of a few crops, much of which is now used for animal feed.” 

This important recent report — and an upcoming live webcast — I hope will drive a healthy debate over just how radically Americans’ vastly entrenched dietary lifestyles and the food systems must change. 

A forum of experts hosted by the Harvard T.H. Chan College of Health, “Feeding 10 Billion by 2050: Creating a Sustainable and Healthy Food Future,” will be webcast live on Friday, March 22, from 11 a.m. to noon Central time, and will be available as on-demand video following the event. For more information and to access the webcast, visit https://bit.ly/2CtQ9wv.