The non-vegetarian diet designed to save the climate

FOCUS online Earth: Ms. Schönberg, you have worked on new scientific recommendations for climate-friendly nutrition. According to this, 35 percent of the calorie intake should come from whole grain products and tubers. There would also be plenty of protein from legumes and nuts. Are we talking about a vegetarian or even vegan diet?

Sonja Schoenberg: No. The consumption of milk, dairy products, eggs, fish and meat is included in the recommendations. However, recommended amounts tend to be lower than what the average adult actually consumes.

They emphasize that the recommendations not only have an eye on people’s health, but also on the so-called planetary boundaries. What’s it all about?

Schoenberg: The planetary boundaries describe the ecological load limits of the earth. Our current diet with high amounts of animal foods leads to exceeding these limits. In doing so, we endanger the stability of ecosystems such as air, water and soil. If the systems collapse completely, our life on earth is acutely threatened.

Their recommendations are based on the so-called “Planetary Health Diet”, a climate-friendly diet developed by scientists.

Schoenberg: Yes, that is the calculation of a global diet to feed all people on earth sustainably by 2050, ie in compliance with the planetary limits. Behind the “Planetary Health Diet” is the so-called EAT Lancet Commission, made up of 19 well-known scientists, including from Harvard University and the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

Another new diet, some might think spontaneously…

Schoenberg: Admittedly, when the whole thing first became public in 2019, I too only listened with half an ear. At that time, the German-speaking specialist societies for nutrition did not have the topic prominently on their agenda. If that really mattered, I would know, I thought.

And then?

Schoenberg: Two of our students did their bachelor thesis on the subject. I heard her lecture and I have to say: I was more than moved, almost a little ashamed.

How come?

Schoenberg: Well, it cannot be denied: Generations like mine have lived at the expense of future generations due to their way of doing business. Just one example: food production is considered an important driver of global environmental change. 30 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions are due to how we eat! I am involved in the training of nutritionists and help shape research on the subject. Suddenly I realized that I don’t take responsibility here.

But you’re a nutritionist, not an agronomist. So not really your topic…

Schoenberg: That’s the point. We need to stop thinking in isolation. That doesn’t concern me, isn’t it my area of ​​expertise? Of course it does, and how. For me, the work of these two students was an important aha moment.

Was there another?

Schoenberg: Yes, when shortly afterwards I took part in an online further training course in Germany called “Planetary Health Academy”. I knew it was important for me as a healthcare professional to be there. At that point, however, I was not yet aware of the contradictory nature of the work being done in the healthcare systems.

Where do you think the contradiction lies?

Schoenberg: As healthcare professionals, we are committed to protecting, maintaining and restoring health. We take anamnesis and create therapy plans for individuals. That’s a good thing, but we’re losing sight of the big picture. And health arises dependent on this whole. From the natural ecosystems that surround us. There is the air we breathe, the water we drink, there is the soil that feeds us. In the webinar, I realized that health is ultimately not produced in the healthcare system, and what’s more: Healthcare itself is even part of the problem.

To what extent?

Schoenberg: Our sophisticated health care consumes large amounts of natural resources. If we just look at the climate footprint of hospitals, it becomes clear that its size depends directly on infrastructure, energy and catering. In all three points, many hospitals are badly off today.

Of course, eating does not mean the special patient food for the seriously ill. But look at the general menu and staff catering. They are significantly more likely to find multiple meat menus on the menu each day than for plant-based alternatives. It is well known that high meat consumption is bad for the climate and health.

So we’re talking about a system that actually wants to make you healthy, but works in such a way that it makes you ill?

Schoenberg: That’s very bold, but basically there’s something to it, yes. Our world has a fever, I sometimes say. How are we supposed to be healthy ourselves?

Since 2019 you have been incorporating the findings of the “Planetary Health” diet into your work. What do you personally take away from the new approach?

Schoenberg: My kitchen has become so much more colourful, richer! It’s amazing what you can discover about plant-based recipes once you delve deeper into them. Instead of cheese, I often have a homemade spread made from legumes on my bread in the morning. I recently discovered the winter stews for myself. Root vegetables, unusual spices… I now take a very close look at convenience products. Burger patties, poultry substitute? This is often relatively heavily processed and has a rather low nutritional value. If I want to keep an eye on both my health and the health of the world, when it comes to convenience, I tend to reach for comparatively original soy products such as tofu.

There are also critical voices about “Planetary Health“. If you work hard, you get too little energy from this diet, some say. There have also been warnings about malnutrition.

Schoenberg: The criticism is mainly related to the fact that something is misunderstood here. The “Planetary Health Diet” is not about specific consumption recommendations. Rather, it is a global nutritional concept that must be adapted to local production contexts and individual needs. For example, ranges of certain food groups are given, from zero to 100 grains for legumes, for example. Or zero to 25 grams for eggs.

It makes a difference now where I live. Different plants thrive in warm countries than in our latitudes. In some places in the world, arable land cannot be cultivated. It also matters whether I’m a healthy adult, a toddler, or a seriously ill elderly person. Last but not least, culinary preferences and ethical needs come into play. The “Planetary Health Diet” is about a direction in which our diet should develop and not about constantly weighing the scales the kitchen to handle!

And yet everyone has to work out a little bit for themselves what is good and right?

Schoenberg: In fact, my original profession, well-trained nutritional advice, could be in greater demand in the future. And preferably less when the child has already fallen into the well, like now, when people are already ill when they come for nutritional advice. Also, maybe we don’t need to talk that much about each person’s responsibility.

Rather?

Schoenberg: About that of the food system that surrounds us. Companies could offer their employees “planet-healthy menus” in the canteen. Companies could campaign for an entire workforce. Lectures, coaching… all that is conceivable, schools and other educational institutions also definitely belong on board. Very important: we don’t have to reinvent the wheel! Basically, we have known a lot for a long time.

What do you mean specifically?

Schoenberg: Professional associations like the DGE have been saying this for ages: half a plate should be full of vegetables. At every meal. In the recent past, no serious professional has recommended consuming around one kilo of meat per capita per week. This is how high consumption is in German-speaking countries at the moment. The knowledge is there…

But?

Schoenberg: It simply does not automatically lead to a change in behavior. Crazy, isn’t it? The world has a fever – and we’re holding back on therapy that might bring it down.