Proponents of degrowth have long argued that economic growth is detrimental to the environment. Now, scientists show that curbing growth alone would not make the food system sustainable—but changing what we eat and putting a price on carbon would. In a first, a group led by the Potsdam Institute used a quantitative food and land system model to gauge the effects of degrowth and efficiency proposals on the food sector's greenhouse gas emissions. In their study published in Nature Food, they find that combining a dietary shift, emissions pricing, and international income transfers could make the world's food system emissions-neutral by the end of the 21st century—providing at the same time a healthier nutrition for a growing world population.
