Incorporating sustainability in the Eatwell Guide: an opportunity for human and planetary health
By Ali Morpeth (RNutr)
What we eat, and the way that food is produced is driving multiple and interrelated crises - to public health, climate and nature.
In England 64% adults are overweight or living with obesity while 1 in 7 face hunger and the cost of living crisis is exacerbating food insecurity. Meanwhile, what we eat and the way food is produced is a leading cause of biodiversity loss, deforestation, drought, freshwater pollution and collapse of aquatic wildlife.
Shifting diets is one of the most amazing opportunities we have to reorientate the food system for better human and planetary health, which makes healthy sustainable diets our new North Star. Many countries are making great strides by joining the dots between health and sustainability in their national dietary guidelines. Now is the time for the UK to follow suit.
Why the Eatwell Guide offers a prime opportunity to shift diets for healthier people and planet
In the UK our national dietary guidelines (the Eatwell Guide) outlines the government’s recommendations for food and nutrients - or healthy eating. The Eatwell Guide is instrumental in framing public health policy and public consciousness. It’s used widely by national and local government, the NHS, health care professionals (including nutritionists and dietitians), industry and the public.
“Used by Registered Nutritionists and Dietitians, Eatwell is a tool for using with groups, in one-to-one consultations and in public health promotion to communicate messages on healthier diets. It incorporates a variety of foods from different groups, to provide macro and micro nutrients in amounts aligned with nutrient recommendations” - Dr Sally Moore Registered Dietitian
The Eatwell Guide, last updated by the UK government in 2016, recommends a diet which delivers energy from carbohydrates, proteins and fats, primarily made up of plants (see Table 1), including 5 portions (80g/portion) of fruit and vegetables a day and plenty of (ideally wholegrain) starchy carbohydrates including potatoes, rice, oats and couscous. In structuring the plate around plants, the Eatwell guide is aligned with the body of evidence that plant rich diets simultaneously protect human and planetary health.
Further health-sustainability co-benefits are promoted by the current Eatwell Guide’s plant-forward ordering of protein (12% total plate), where beans, peas and lentils (pulses) are first listed protein sources and the guidance states:
Win-win for people and planet
We only need to look at UK population based consumption data (National Diet Nutrition Survey) to see poor eating habits with low intakes of fibre, fruit and vegetables, and essential micronutrients. Evidence shows shifting the UK public to high adherence to the Eatwell Guide has the potential to reduce risk of total mortality by 7% and bring climate co-benefits through reducing greenhouse gasses (-30%) and water use (-4 to -7%). However, less than 1% of people in the UK meet all Eatwell recommendations.
The Eatwell Guide does not go far enough to protect planetary health…
We’re facing into the headwinds of a triple challenge: how to ensure food and nutrition security for all, while keeping global warming to 1.5°C and reversing nature loss. The UK average diet emits 4.84kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 e) per person per day. This far exceeds where we need to be if we are to limit global warming to 1.5°C and achieve net zero by 2050.
Updating National Dietary Guidelines in line with sustainability is not unique, left-field or controversial
Since 2019, 9 out of 10 countries have modeled updates to their food based dietary guidelines (FBDG) on planetary and human health. Overall, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the UN has identified 37 countries which mention environmental sustainability in FBDG, representing 17% of the world's population. These countries include Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Qatar, Norway, Brazil, and Germany. A common guiding principle in FBDG is the principle of increasing plant-based foods (23 [62%] countries) and reducing animal-based foods in the diet (23 [62%] countries).
Public health was the primary consideration for the 2016 refresh of the Eatwell Guide, but since then, evidence relating to the need to reduce animal protein to deliver health and environmental co-benefits has emerged. The Government’s own Climate Change Committee and the National Food Strategy have both issued targets for meat reduction as an essential pathway to delivering net zero but these targets are not reflected in the current Eatwell Guide.
What an update to the Eatwell Guide might include
In the UK most of our protein intake comes from animal-based sources. An update to the Eatwell Guide should therefore focus on how to keep the food system within planetary boundaries:
Eatwell guidance should recommend consuming more plant-based proteins in the diet, including pulses (beans, peas and lentils) mycoprotein, tofu, bean curd
Eatwell protein segment guidance could be renamed: ‘Pulses (beans, peas and lentils) mycoprotein, tofu, bean curd and animal proteins’ to reflect recommendation to consume more plant-based proteins and highlight contribution of non-meat sources to the diet
Eatwell plate imagery should be updated to reflect plant-based sources as useful dietary protein sources
To supplement sustainability update, Eatwell traffic light guidance should be updated to include eco label guidance (currently underway)
Example: Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
Updated in 2023, the Nordic Nutrition Dietary Recommendations (NNR) recommend a predominantly plant-based diet, primarily made up of cereals, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Fungi (mycoprotein) are also listed as a source of non-animal protein and lots of fruit, vegetables are also advised.
NNR recommends moderate intake of low-fat dairy products, limited amounts of white meat and minimal consumption of processed meats. NNR suggests consumption of red meat should be kept under 350 grams a week for health, and much lower amounts should be consumed for environmental reasons. People are also advised to keep their intake of processed foods high in fat, salt and sugar to a minimum.
Making progress on health and sustainability in the UK
The need to shift to the new North Star – healthy and sustainable diets - is evident given our current dietary patterns. In the past 10 years, many countries have started incorporating sustainability in their national dietary guidelines, but the UK is lagging behind. Given the far reaching potential of the Eatwell Guide to deliver impact across multiple disciplines, developing and integrating updated dietary recommendations that promote plant-based diets with recommendations specifically relating to protein is an obvious strategy. This will help the UK address public health, climate and nature emergencies.
