On World Earth Day, 22 April, ANP l WWF launched the "Weekly Plan for Healthy and Sustainable Eating", showing that it is possible to eat within one of the planet's limits, namely in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This plan details the portions and type of food that can make up a family's weekly plan, remembering that what we eat not only affects our health, but also the health of the planet.

For Ângela Morgado, Executive Director of ANP l WWF, "current food production has enormous impacts on ecosystems, namely in terms of biodiversity loss, and water use and contamination, so one of the biggest challenges we face is the transition to a more sustainable system that guarantees a future in terms of food security. It is precisely because it is such a challenge that this Plan is very useful for all those who want to make changes in their eating habits."

The study, carried out in collaboration with the Portuguese Association of Nutrition, is available digitally on the ANP l WWF website, and includes a free weekly plan designed for 4 people - woman, man, adolescent, and child - contemplating the nutritional needs of any type of family. The organization aims to help people make a conscious food transition, with a positive impact on reducing the current harmful effects of agricultural and fish production, reducing food waste, and adopting healthier and more sustainable diets.

The way we produce and consume food is putting us in a global emergency, both in nature and in our health. The main driver of biodiversity loss, food production also contributes to around 26% of global GHG emissions, and this share is expected to double in the coming years. The food system is still the largest consumer and polluter of the world's water resources, damaging lakes, rivers, and oceans.

Globally, about 40% of all agricultural land is used to produce food. Meat, aquaculture, eggs, and dairy products are produced using about 84% of the world's agricultural land devoted to food production and contribute to nearly 60% of food GHG emissions, despite providing only 37% of the protein and 18% of the calories we consume.

According to the latest National Food and Physical Activity Survey (IAN-AF, 2015 to 2016), the Portuguese population consumes on average more foods of animal origin (dairy products, meat, fish, and eggs) and less fruit and vegetables than recommended by the Mediterranean Food Wheel.

This excessive consumption of animal products is the third main risk factor that contributes most to the total number of healthy life years lost, namely due to metabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. In addition, according to the IAN-AF, these habits, combined with low physical activity, are responsible for the problem of overweight which covers more than half of the Portuguese population, about 34.8% have pre-obesity, and 22.3% obesity.

To construct the weekly meal plans presented in the study, the energy (Total Energy Value – TET) and nutritional needs of each member of the household were calculated, considering that carbohydrates correspond to 50%, protein to 20%, and fat to 30% of the TEV.

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In terms of sustainability, and with the aim of respecting the recommended carbon footprint values, seven daily meal plans were developed for each member of the household that were within the daily limit of 2.04 kg CO2-eq emissions per person*.

The study also found that plant-based main meals generally have a lower carbon footprint than meat, fish, or egg main meals, with meat meals generally having the largest footprint. In order for our diet to stay within planetary limits, it is crucial to increase the consumption of plant-based foods. In this plan, seasonal and fresh foods were also favoured - these are, in general, more sustainable and nutritionally rich.

The ANP|WWF and the NPC thus show that it is possible to have a healthy diet that also has a lower environmental impact, and call on the health authorities to, in conjunction with those of the environment, agriculture, and fisheries, review the official dietary guidelines so that they incorporate environmental criteria, such as GHG emissions, water consumption, destruction of biodiversity, contaminants, etc.

* Value calculated as the maximum daily established for the carbon footprint caused by the food of each Portuguese, in order to comply with the Paris Agreement and ensure an increase in global warming of less than 1.5ºC by 2050.