Eat Less Meat Is Still the Message From Flagship Diet Report
The authors say plant-heavy diets could save millions of lives and cut farm emissions, claims the meat industry has sought to undermine.
Fruit and vegetables sit on display at an outdoor market stall at Chrisp Street Market in London.
Photographer: Hollie Adams/BloombergWhen a group of leading scientists and nutrition experts unveiled a global diet plan several years ago, few expected it to ignite one of the fiercest food debates in recent memory. Their central prescription seemed innocuous: For an increasingly populous planet to thrive, wealthy nations should eat less meat and more plants.
But soon after publication, the report from the EAT-Lancet Commission became a lightning rod. The authors were subjected to threats, accused of elitism and targeted in social media campaigns backed by the meat industry. Some policymakers embraced its recommendations, while others, particularly in the US, dismissed it as a “woke” attempt to take away meat from people’s plates.