April 26, 2012

expert reaction to the Royal Society’s new report, People and the Planet

A report on the world’s population by the Royal Society recommended that consumption levels between developed and developing nations must be rebalanced alongside a stabilisation of the world’s population.

Prof Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University London, said:

“It is a brave politician who is prepared to tell Western consumers to consume less to let the developing world consume more. But we need such bravery now urgently. In food, there’s an advantage to this: the West over- and mal-consumes its way to diet-related ill-health from a diet with a high environmental impact. The evidence is there but will politicians and consumers listen and change?”