Red meat, fatty foods, high-cholesterol, high-salt, high-sugar, and too many calories – these are some of the characteristics of a Western diet (Wollston, 2015). It is a fact that this kind of diet is harmful to one’s health. According to the data from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2013, around 610, 000 people die annually because of heart disease (as cited in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015). In addition, around 78.6 million adults in the U.S. are classified as obese. This means that 78.6 million are at risk of deadly diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes (Ogden et al., 2014). What some people are not aware of is that the Western diet also brings harm to the environment. With the growing demand for the production of more processed foods, biodiversity is being greatly affected. Clearly, the Western diet is unsustainable. An unsustainable diet is defined as one that makes a person “too fat, ill, or fatigued” which leads to “disease if followed for a long period of time” (Sustainable Diets, 2014). This kind of diet is also characterized by its ability to degrade the soil, pollute the water system, add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere, use sources and energy that are not renewable, and cause climate change (Sustainable Diets, 2014). By causing different fatal diseases and bringing harm to the environment, the Western diet proves to be unsustainable.
First of all, it has been a proven that the Western diet can be harmful to human health, which makes it unsustainable. For instance, a study conducted by Harvard researchers suggests that men who adopt a Western diet are 2.5 times more at risk of dying from prostate cancer (as cited in LaMotte, 2015). This is not at all surprising as the American Cancer Society (2015) cites both high-fat, high-red meat diet and obesity as risk factors for this illness. Both of these risk factors may be obtained from a Western diet. In addition, the Western diet is also linked with a greater risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. A study conducted by an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, Lyn Steffen, showed that a Western diet increases the risk of acquiring metabolic syndrome (as cited in WebMD, 2008). The National Institutes of Health (2011) defines the metabolic syndrome as “the name for a group of risk factors that raises your risk for heart disease and other health problems, such as diabetes and stroke. By triggering different fatal conditions and posing harm to overall human health, the Westerns diet proves to be unsustainable.
Secondly, the production and consumption of foods categorized as Western diet negatively affects the environment. The need to avoid food shortages gave birth to industrial agriculture years after the World War II. It was initially considered as a success in its ability to sustain and feed the society’s population, but instead of providing benefits, it was proven to cause more harm. For example, in order to produce goods that are the common ingredients of a Western diet (e.g., wheat, soybeans, corn, and rice), monoculture farming, a type of industrial food production, is required (Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d.). Monoculture farming is characterized by the use of harmful chemicals, such as pesticides, fertilizers, and other toxic substances that pollutes water systems, the air, and even the soil. With these chemicals lurking in the environment for many years, it causes disruption on the people and wildlife’s hormonal systems, too (World Wildlife Fund [WWF], 2015). This means that the production of food products needed to meet the demands of the people who follow the Western diet is being done at the expense of the environment. Another example of how industrial agriculture negatively impacts the environment is the process of meat production.
In order to produce large quantities of meat at a faster rate, hogs and other animals are raised and slaughtered in large facilities called confined animal feeding operations or CAFOs (Union of Concerned Scientists, n.d.). The issue comes not only from the fact that these animals are being given antibiotics and hormones and fed high-calorie and grain-based foods, but their massive collective wastes become so concentrated and pose great danger to the environment. For instance, a large amount of animal wastes from CAFOs release excessive amounts of phosphorous and nitrogen, and these types of nutrients cause algal blooms that trigger a decrease in dissolved oxygen level, which may result to fish kill (Natural Resources Defense Council, 2013). These kinds of practices also pose risk for waste leaks and spills. For example, around 25 million gallons of animal wastes accidentally spilled in the New River from a hog-waste lagoon in North Carolina in 1995, which resulted to massive fish kill, affecting around 10 million fish and closing more than 300, 000 hectares of wetlands used for shellfishing (Natural Resources Defense Council, 2013). These are just some of the dramatic and debilitating effects of industrial agriculture on the environment.
Overall, trying to maintain and sustain the supply of food products classified as part of the Western diet proves to be unsustainable. A sustainable diet is defined as one that contributes to good health and helps prevent diseases as well as helps preserve and conserve the environment (Sustainable Diets, 2014). Based on this definition, it is clear that a Western diet doesn’t qualify as sustainable. The high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar, and high-salt foods included in this type of diet only increase the risk for chronic diseases, such as heart attack, cancers, and diabetes. Also, the ways which these types of foods are being produced, like monoculture farming and the industrial system of meat production, only result to pollution and degradation of natural resources. Even if the food required in the Western diet can be easily reproduced, meeting the demands of the growing population, in the long run, it will only provide more harm than good not only to the people but to the environment, too.
References
American Cancer Society. (2015). What are the Risk Factors for Prostate Cancer?. Retrieved from http://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostatecancer/detailedguide/prostate-cancer-risk-factors
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2015). Heart Disease Facts. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/heartdisease/facts.htm
LaMotte, S. (2015, June 6). Study: High-fat Western diet increases chances of prostate cancer. CNN. Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2015/06/05/health/prostate-cancer-diet/
National Institutes of Health. (2011). What is Metabolic Syndrome?. Retrieved from http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/ms
Natural Resources Defense Council. (2013). Facts About Pollution from Livestock Farms. Retrieved from http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/ffarms.asp
Ogden, C.L., Carroll, M.D., Kit, B.K., & FlegalK.M. (2014). Prevalence of Childhood and Adult Obesity in the United States, 2011-2012. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 311, 806-814. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.732.
Sustainable Diets. (2014). What is a Sustainable Diet?. Retrieved from http://sustainablediets.com/what-is-a-sustainable-diet/
Union of Concerned Citizens. (n.d.). Industrial Agriculture. Retrieved from http://www.ucsusa.org/our-work/food-agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture#.VYkc1vmqpHw
WebMD. (2008, January 23). Western Diet Ups Heart, Diabetes Risk. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/western-diet-ups-heart-diabetes-risk/
World Wildlife Fund [WWF]. (2015). Sustainable Agriculture. Retrieved from http://www.worldwildlife.org/industries/sustainable-agriculture
