Someone please handcuff the global ‘food police’
Is food the new tobacco? Most people would recognize the obvious difference. But a new report in the British science journal the Lancet is calling for a global treaty to tackle the “negative health and environmental effects of the food system,” citing the World Health Organization’s framework for tobacco control as a model.
Another new report published in the same journal this month, and with similarly stark language, claims global food production is “threatening local ecosystems and the stability of the Earth system.” The international commission that authored the report calls for a “Great Food Transformation,” which includes halving the global consumption of red meat and doubling the production of nuts, fruits, vegetables, and legumes, among other sustainability strategies. The “Transformation” would be promoted by everything from mildly obnoxious public awareness campaigns to draconian government policies that interfere with your culinary choices.