The Centre for Translational Nutrition and Food Research is proud to invite Dr Marco Springmann to discuss ‘Healthy diets from sustainable food systems’.

Dr Marco Springmann is a senior researcher in the Centre on Population Approaches for Non-Communicable Disease Prevention in the Nuffield Department of Population Health, and leads the Centre’s programme on environmental sustainability and public health. He is interested in the health, environmental, and economic dimensions of the global food systems. He often uses systems models to provide quantitative estimates on food-related questions. Most recently, he was part of the EAT-Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets form Sustainable Food Systems.

Our food system is neither healthy, nor sustainable. Imbalanced diets, such as diets low in fruits and vegetables and high in red and processed meat, are the leading risk factor for mortality in the world and in most regions. On the other hand, agricultural production that underpins our diets is a major driver of climate change, land-use changes and biodiversity loss, freshwater depletion, as well as air and water pollution. In my talk, I detail these impacts, and discuss possible solutions, including dietary changes towards more plant-based diets, reductions in food loss and waste, and technological improvements and changes in management practices. I highlight how each actor along the food chain can play a role in transforming our current food system into one that stays within environmental limits and delivers healthy diets for a growing population.