Connecting the Dots Between Livestock, Their Environmental Burdens, Dietary Preferences and Food Security in the US

Connecting the Dots Between Livestock, Their Environmental Burdens, Dietary Preferences and Food Security in the US

Alon Shepon (The Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel)
October 5, 2016/2:00 PM
HSSB 6020

Feeding a growing population while minimizing environmental degradation is a global challenge. It is now clear that because of the enormous regional to global impacts of livestock on air and water quality, ocean health, land use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, adequately feeding 9 plus billion humans will require thoroughly rethinking food production and consumption. Because they strongly impact food consumption, dietary preference play a major role in food systems with major impacts on the environment and public health. Recent analyses link environment, economy and health through the diet nexus, highlighting the huge environmental mitigation potential of changing diets (especially reduction in beef consumption) comparable to changes in agriculture productivity.

In this talk, Alon Shepon will present an on-going research that assesses the environmental burdens of individual animal-based food items in the American food system and quantifies the ramifications of potential dietary changes to resource usage and food availability.

Sponsored by the Environmental Humanities Initiative.