Environmental impacts of current and future diets in India

A rapidly growing population and unprecedented dietary changes are placing the Indian food system under increasing pressure. Agriculture accounts for 90% of freshwater use in India, and ongoing environmental changes could have substantial effects on water availability and distribution.1Immerzeel WW Van Beek LP Bierkens MF Climate change will affect the Asian water towers.Science. 2010; 328: 1382-1385Crossref PubMed Scopus (2332) Google Scholar Droughts in 2016–17 in India led to food insecurity, migration, and other major social disruptions, and scant evidence exists on which to base policy action to respond to these pressures. Our Sustainable and Healthy Diets in India (SAHDI) project aimed to generate novel methods for the academic community and new data specifically to inform evidence-based policies to support healthy and environmentally sustainable diets in India. We adapted the Cool Farm Tool to generate new estimates of the greenhouse gas emissions2Vetter SH Sapkota TB Hillier J et al.Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural food production to supply Indian diets: implications for climate change mitigation.Agric Ecosyst Environ. 2017; 237: 234-241Crossref PubMed Scopus (114) Google Scholar and water footprints3Kayatz B Hillier J Harris F et al.Assessment of spatial and temporal variability of water use for cereal production in India using a new farmer engagement tool, the Cool Farm Tool Water.Geophys Res Abstr. 2018; 20 (abstr).: 8377Google Scholar associated with the production of foods in India. We then defined typical Indian dietary patterns4Ebrahim S Kinra S Bowen L et al.The effect of rural-to-urban migration on obesity and diabetes in India: a cross-sectional study.PLoS Med. 2010; 7: e1000268Crossref PubMed Scopus (250) Google Scholar, 5Joy EJ Green R Agrawal S et al.Dietary patterns and non-communicable disease risk in Indian adults: secondary analysis of Indian Migration Study data.Public Health Nutr. 2017; : 1-10Google Scholar and quantified their greenhouse gas and water footprints; the greenhouse gas emissions of average diets in India are roughly half and the blue (irrigation) water footprints are nearly double those of diets in the UK.6Green R Joy EJM Milner J et al.Environmental Impacts of Typical Dietary Patterns in India.FASEB J. 2017; 31 (651.2 (abstr).)PubMed Google Scholar These environmental footprints vary substantially, with diets consumed by urban, younger, and wealthier adults having the highest greenhouse gas and water footprints, highlighting the potential for increasing food-related environmental impacts as dietary patterns change. We identified opportunities for dietary changes that could help to mitigate future water scarcity due to population pressures.7Milner J Joy EJ Green R et al.Projected health effects of realistic dietary changes to address freshwater constraints in India: a modelling study.Lancet Plan Health. 2017; 1: e26-e32Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (24) Google Scholar To provide more detailed data on this crucial issue we are conducting in-depth analyses of potential scenarios (including both the production and consumption of food) to quantify the environmental impacts of India's food system. The importance of the SAHDI project is threefold. First, the generation of new interdisciplinary methods linking data from the environment, food system, and health sectors will be useful to the related academic community. Second, the provision of new data for India is engaging policy makers in the importance of the linkages between the environment and health. Our novel data on sustainable diets in India can be used for example to inform culturally relevant dietary recommendations, as have been produced in The Netherlands and Brazil.8Health Council of the NetherlandsDutch dietary guidelines 2015. Health Council of the Netherlands, The HagueNov 4, 2015Google Scholar, 9Monteiro CA Cannon G Moubarac J-C et al.Dietary guidelines to nourish humanity and the planet in the twenty-first century. A blueprint from Brazil.Public Health Nutr. 2015; 18: 2311-2322Crossref PubMed Scopus (173) Google Scholar Our data also provide evidence for behaviour change interventions to stimulate more sustainable dietary consumption patterns—eg, we have used our data to develop educational resources for local schools.5Joy EJ Green R Agrawal S et al.Dietary patterns and non-communicable disease risk in Indian adults: secondary analysis of Indian Migration Study data.Public Health Nutr. 2017; : 1-10Google Scholar, 10Joy E Food for thought: connecting food choices to environmental impact with school children in India. Opinion Views from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.http://blogs.lshtm.ac.uk/news/2016/05/10/food-for-thought-connecting-food-choices-to-environmental-impact-with-school-children-in-india/Date: 2016Date accessed: January 8, 2018Google Scholar Third, the development of new modules in the Cool Farm Tool will enable agricultural workers to assess their on-farm environmental impacts, raise awareness, and promote more sustainable agricultural practices. Through our engagement with the Cool Farm Alliance, some of the largest growers and purchasers of agricultural products in India can now analyse on-farm water use in addition to greenhouse gas emissions in their supply chains and identify opportunities to respond to declining water availability, thus improving the sustainability of the food system now and in the future. Funding Wellcome Trust Contributors RG, EJ, SA, and JMa processed the dietary data. FH, BK, and TA processed the water footprint data. RG, EJ, JH, and PS processed the greenhouse gas data. JMi did the health modelling. All authors contributed to analysis and interpretation of the data and the writing of the report. AD, RG, EJ, PS, and AH were the project leads and designed the study. Declaration of interests We declare no competing interests. Acknowledgments This abstract forms part of the Sustainable and Healthy Diets in India (SAHDI) project supported by the Wellcome Trust Our Planet, Our Health programme (grant number 103932). The Wellcome Trust had no role in the design, analysis, or writing of this abstract.