Why What We Eat Matters

What we eat is about more than our own nutrition.

It also takes us to the global allocation of resources.

What We Eat

Shown by the following graphics, poultry is most popular in the U.S., the Japanese like their seafood, and the Germans prefer pork:

The HALF Index

For starters, Our World in Data, calculated that 71% of total global land is habitable while now we use 50% for agriculture. Then, they looked at how we could use our land, depending on our diet.

And that took us to HALF.

In 2016, researchers created the HALF index. Their goal was to estimate how much of the world’s resources would be used to replicate a selected country’s diet. Assuming, for example, that everyone copied the beef consumption of the UK, they calculated the average amount of land necessary to support this diet. The results demonstrated that some diets use so much land that the earth is not large enough for everyone to recreate it.

Below, our map displays which diets could be adopted globally and those that could not because of inadequate land:

Ranging from a whopping 191% for New Zealand to Bangladesh’s 14.90%, we can see the world’s disparate diets:

Our Bottom Line: Tradeoffs

There is an estimated 14-fold difference in how much land different nations use to feed themselves. However, for a more equal world, we need tradeoffs. We would need to sacrifice a diet anchored with chicken or pork for a more equitable menu.

Here, some cite the Reverend Thomas Malthus. While this late 18th century economic thinker expected population growth would deplete our resources, he miscalculated. Instead, agricultural productivity has soared.

I’ve summarized what Malthus predicted:

The USDA tells us that farm output from 1948 to 2019 was up by 175 percent although inputs rose by just four percent. The key though was the composition of those inputs. The use of machinery and intermediate goods have soared while land and labor are down. It was the new technology that brought monumental strides in agricultural productivity.

Our HALF statistics were gathered during 2011. While I suspect they still reflect accurate trends, I do wonder if new technology can elevate equality and minimize the cost of our tradeoffs.

My sources and more: Thanks to my Economist email for inspiring today’s post with their clever graphic and to WSJ for alerting me to this article. Then, as always, Our World in Data, here and here, not only had the numbers but also a meaningful perspective. And finally, the ideal complement was this USDA discussion of agricultural productivity.