A forest burns in Brazil (Picture: REUTERS/Bruno Kelly)

The planet is in crisis.

David Attenborough has told us so.

The UN has told us so.

And Extinction Rebellion brought London to a standstill this April to make sure we got the message.


And then Greta Thunberg hammered the message home to Parliament.

One million species are at risk of extinction.

And just half a degree increase in global warming will significantly increase the risk of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.

Put simply, Earth’s sixth mass extinction is under way.

The cause? Humans.

Greta Thunberg sits down with UK parties to tell them they are failing the planet (Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)

It may seem like a far-flung thing as we sit in our cosy living rooms enjoying our bougie lives, but if we don’t start paying attention there may be no planet to save and we, too, will be wiped out like the dinosaurs.



But can our diet really have such an impact? With agriculture counting for 70% of land use in the UK and 10 million tonnes of food waste every year in the UK perhaps it’s not so hard to see how our food choices have a knock-on effect.

We asked four experts to explain how our diets may be destroying the planet:

Professor John Morton, Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich

John is a Professor of Development Anthropology whose work focuses on the impacts of climate change on the rural poor and opportunities for adaptation. He has been closely involved since 2004 in the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

‘The way we currently get our food is hugely damaging to the planet in many ways.

Globally the agricultural sector – including deforestation as more land is cleared for agriculture – is responsible for nearly a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions.

An Orangutan desperately tries to stop a bulldozer from destroying its home (Picture: International Animal Rescue)

Much of that is methane from cows and sheep – a very potent greenhouse gas (and in rich countries we eat too much red meat anyway).

Greenhouse gases are causing warmer and more unpredictable weather that in turn brings about climate disasters, sea-level rise and less favourable conditions for many of the crops people eat and use. But climate change is only part of the damage.

Growth in the agricultural land area is an important driver of what a recent UN report has called an unprecedented and accelerating loss of biodiversity.

Over-use of pesticides risks enormous damage to the bees which pollinate our crops, yet there are still voices trying to slow down or defeat regulation.

Soils and their fertility are being damaged and depleted by over-cultivation.

Agro-chemicals and livestock manure run off into rivers, lakes and seas.

Changing this picture will not be easy, especially with a world population still growing, but agriculture, just like all the other sectors of the economy, needs to make drastic changes by 2030 – in other words it has to start now.’

Many orangutans end up orphaned as a result of deforestation (Picture: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)

William Gildea, The Vegan Society

William is a campaigns and policy officer at The Vegan Society, the world’s oldest vegan organisation.

‘We are facing a climate emergency. And we’ve neglected the environmental damage of our food, which must be addressed if we are to fix climate change. But there’s good news. Plant-based foods tend to be far better for the environment, meaning we can eat our way to a more sustainable planet.



Animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs aren’t environmentally friendly as many farmed animals release large amounts of methane which warms the planet. And they need to be fed lots of crops, so it’s usually wasteful too, as most of the calories we feed them doesn’t make it into their meat, milk or eggs.

Plant-based diets use less land and water, produce fewer emissions, leave us more food-secure, and animals better protected. They can cut our food-related carbon footprint is half.

Our Plate Up for the Planet campaign gives people resources to try plant based for the planet, for 7 days.’

Last year Salvador suffered huge crop losses due to drought (Picture: OSCAR RIVERA/AFP/Getty Images)

David Exwood, National Farmers Union

David is a first-generation tenant farmer on 2,500 acres in the Sussex Weald and Chair of the South-East Region of the National Farmers Union.

‘We all make choices every time we eat. Consciously or subconsciously, those choices impact our environment both nationally and globally. We need to be more aware about where our food has come from, how it is produced and the true value of it.

Farming’s job is to provide realistic solutions about how we feed 77 million people in the UK and 9.7 billion globally by 2050 in a sustainable way without just exporting our environmental footprint or conscience.

The British agriculture system of mixed farming with livestock production alongside growing crops has existed for thousands of years but now we need to adapt it to meet the 21st century challenges of sustainability, climate change and biodiversity.

An aerial view of a chemically deforested area of the Amazon jungle caused by illegal mining activities in the river basin of the Madre de Dios region in southeast Peru (Picture: AFP/Getty)

Using the very latest technology alongside traditional practices is the only way we can produce enough food at a price people can afford while caring for our planet.


Grazed grass covers 40% of the land in the UK and we must be able to use that for producing food.

Farming is already moving in the right direction and wants to be part of a national and global conversation about how to feed ourselves and sustain our world. Farming cares, not just because it’s our careers and livelihood but because we choose to work in the environment we love.

A balanced healthy diet comes from balanced, healthy farming.’

Camilla Berens, Greenpeace

Camilla is a journalist and environmental activist. She has been Greenpeace’s area coordinator for Greenwich and Lewisham for ten years.

‘The negative impact of the meat and dairy business is much broader than you might imagine. To feed the world’s growing population we need to use our land as wisely as possible. With this in mind, the animal farming equation no longer adds up. In fact, the way we’re consuming meat is making us, and the planet, sick.

According to the NGO Imazon, deforestation in the Amazonia increased in a 54% in January 2019 – the first month of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s term- compared to the same month of 2018 (Picture: Mauro Pimentel / AFP)

Here’s why:

Too much land is being used for under-efficient food production. Over 30% of all crops are used for animal feed, instead of feeding us directly. The amount of water used to support beef farming alone is six times greater than the water need to grow pulses like beans and peas. As water becomes an increasingly scarce commodity, we need to re-think how to maximise its use.

The rapid expansion of animal farming around the world is also eating into our last remaining areas of wilderness – including rainforests. Global farming is responsible for 80% of deforestation with livestock and animal feed production being the main culprits. Pollution from farm waste and feed is increasingly contributing to ‘dead zones’ in oceans and the degradation of rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

Oil spills below Rio-Niteroi bridge in Guanabara Bay, Brazil (Picture: Ricardo Funari/Brazil Photos/LightRocket via Getty Images)

An increasingly meat-based diet has been linked to rising levels of obesity. A total of five million deaths could be avoided globally by 2050 if we moved to a healthier diet. This figure rises to seven million if we all opted to become vegetarians. At the same time, increasingly intensive farming methods for cattle, pigs and chickens is pushing animal welfare out of the equation altogether.


That’s why Greenpeace is calling for a global cut of 50% in the production and consumption of meat and dairy products by 2050.’

Pigs being evacuated following heavy rains in Yumbo Municipality, Colombia (Picture: CARLOS JULIO MARTINEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

You can join the debate on the future of food production and consumption, including the impact of current food consumption on the environment, at the University of Greenwich on Tuesday 21 May at. 5.45-9pm.

Lecture Theatre QA080, Queen Anne Building, University of Greenwich, Old Royal Naval College, Park Row, Greenwich, SE10 9LS