Land use for food production is important, but can put unnecessary pressure on natural systems. In this way, our diets are contributing to the continual worsening of a broad range of environmental problems, not just climate change – for example increasing levels of pollution and loss of biodiversity. Because many of
these issues are broadly proportional to how much land we use, and how intensively we use that land,
reducing the amount of land needed to grow food can help. Leaving more space for nature, for example, is an important outcome in itself, but could also help reduce UK net GHG emissions. Restoring wetlands and planting forest on released land can lead to capture of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and offers important habitats for biodiversity. These three issues, therefore, are interlinked – what we eat has an impact on our health, climate change and other environmental issues related to land use.