Thread by @GHGGuru

Great discussions about the 2050 challenge and sustainable diets at Cornell w/ Fabrice DeClerck (EAT), Bill Wavrin (Ferndale Farmsted), and Frank Mitloehner (UCD).

Thread: There clearly were areas of agreement between EAT’s Dr. DeClerck and I about the sense of urgency in revamping the global food supply system. The 2050 challenge is real, food waste at current rates unacceptable, and metabolic disease rates a disaster globally. /1

EAT wants to move the global community to accept a planetary-, largely plant based diet. They are in support of dietary guidelines much like those recently implemented by Canada (see left image vs EAT on the right). /2

I oppose eating guidelines b/c I believe that the choice of what we eat is as individual as other basic rights. I am strictly against the forceful approach that EAT introduced (see text). Providing consumers with info on nutritional adequacies is my preferred option. /3

What I especially object to is the radical anti-meat agenda of EAT Lancet. Fabrice shared that EAT allows 3lbs of meat/week (which I cannot see). EAT allows on average 7 grams of beef and 7 grams of pork (per d, respectively) and 1.5eggs per wk; amounts I consider quasi vegan. /4

I also shared my objection to use of nutritional epidemiology to predict chronic disease - which IMO is the backbone of the EAT report. This approach is not suitable to make specific dietary recommendations (much more eloquently expressed by Prof John Ionnidis). /5

Considering the theme of the symposium, I shared how I think we need to navigate the 2050 challenge of feeding three times more people in our lifetime, w/o depleting all natural resources. I emphasized the power of innovation and productivity improvements that we must unleash.
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IMO, we cannot eat ourselves out of climate change.
A third keynote speaker was Dr. Bill Wavrin, who introduced some real world veterinary- and nutritional considerations into the discussion. /7

Overall, I am thankful for a thoughtful , productive and respectful discussion. My hope is that future global EAT like projects be more inclusive & less dogmatic. Leaving those out of a food discussion who produce- and process food is an omission that should never be repeated. /8

Thanks to Cornell University, the College of Veterinary Medicine and especially Dean Warnick, Professors Osofsky and Nydam, as well as Elizabeth Goldberg for hosting and organizing this important event!
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