Simple dietary substitutions can reduce carbon footprints and improve dietary quality across diverse segments of the US population

Abstract

Changing what foods we eat could reduce environmental harms and improve human health, but sweeping dietary change is challenging. We used dietary intake data from a nationally representative sample of 7,753 US children and adults to identify simple, actionable dietary substitutions from higher- to lower-carbon foods (e.g., substituting chicken for beef in mixed dishes like burritos, but making no other changes to the diet). We simulated the potential impact of these substitutions on dietary carbon emissions and dietary quality. If all consumers who ate the high-carbon foods instead consumed a lower-carbon substitute, the total dietary carbon footprint in the US would be reduced by more than 35%. Moreover, if adopted, these substitutions would improve consumers’ overall dietary quality by 4%–10%, with benefits projected for all age, gender, and racial/ethnic groups. These results suggest a “small changes” approach could be a valuable starting point for addressing diet’s impact on climate and health.