Switching to sustainable agricultural practices can help reduce air, water and soil pollution and protect the biodiversity that supports human life. Combating climate change through sustainable food production reduces extreme weather conditions, which often leads to food insecurity. Sustainable nutrition aims to avoid damaging or wasting natural resources. It also minimizes its contribution to climate change throughout the production process.
Plant-based foods that are minimally processed, such as legumes, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, also have fewer environmental impacts than processed plant-based foods, since processing involves additional emissions of greenhouse gases and environmentally harmful packaging materials. In general, plant-based foods require fewer natural resources for their production than animal-based foods, making plant-based foods inherently more environmentally sustainable. The food sovereignty movement advocates a bottom-up approach to sustainable food production that prioritizes human and environmental well-being. When conventional agriculture leaves lasting damage to local natural resources, or when food production capacity in vulnerable areas is used to produce export crops rather than to feed domestic populations, food insecurity can cause conflicts and political uprisings.
For those who have access to them, buying sustainable foods that are produced using alternative methods to industrial ones helps strengthen alternative food supply chains.
