Eat Right- Save the Planet

After twenty-five years of national and international policy work in development, environment, health, climate change, children’s rights, Olav Kjorven, my guest this week, now stands at the nexus of all these UN focal areas; working on the future of food, health, and agriculture. Olav is the chief strategy officer at the Eat Foundation in Oslo, Norway. EAT’s mission is to transform our global food system from field to fork through science-centered, novel policies, programs, and partnerships.

Olav and I spoke together at the UN Summit in NY about the future of food production, nutrition, soil health, and food waste to food wealth. I laid out our seemingly mission impossible sustainable development challenge of increasing food production 70% while reserving 50% of land for wildlife habitat to accommodate our rapidly growing population. Olav calmly and confidently replied that if we really take a look at present agricultural use… there is a lot of “fat” in the system. We allocate 40% (at least) of productive land to stable crops to feed cattle. We waste now nearly 40% of food produced- field to fork. It doesn’t have to be that way.

We can use simple technologies, like good ol’compost to reduce waste, nutrify soil, and sink carbon. We can apply a convergence of other technologies to create great efficiencies in agriculture production. We can educate better about how to reduce food waste and converge toward healthier diets in the family home. Actually, it’s quite exhilarating to talk to Olav and I look forward to more time to talk with him again about food in the future.There seems an abundance of simple ways each one of us can transform our health and the health of the planet — simply by making better, conscious food choices.

Let’s listen in to Olav on how to eat well, liv healthy, sustain our planet.