Expert discussion on the environmental impact of food

ModErn looks at the environmental impact of nutrition and how this would change if we all ate according to the revised dietary recommendations of the German Nutrition Society (DGE). As part of the project, which corsus is carrying out on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), an expert meeting was held on 16 April 2025 to discuss with experts which optimisation scenarios should be mapped on the basis of initial results.

Food, i.e. what we eat and how it is produced, has a serious impact on the environment and it has long been recognised that changes in food production and consumption habits are necessary in order to stay within the planet’s limits. The impact of food is particularly significant in terms of biodiversity, land use, freshwater use, geochemical fluxes and climate change. In the ModErn project, corsus is analysing the ecological effects of the current diet in Germany in order to assess the contribution that compliance with the updated DGE recommendations (Food-based Dietary Guidelines, FBDG) could make to reducing the environmental impact and complying with the planetary boundaries. A scenario is used to illustrate how the environmental impact would change if the DGE’s dietary recommendations were adhered to. Based on this, further scenarios are designed to show how additional optimisations could be achieved in order to comply with the planetary boundaries.

This is precisely what was discussed at an expert meeting with experts from Germany and Switzerland. The initial results presented by corsus largely confirm the previously published initial assessment of the environmental impact of the DGE’s new dietary recommendations, which were published in mid-2024. However, new findings emerged, particularly with regard to water use and the resulting environmental impact, which were the subject of lively discussion. The results of the expert discussion will be incorporated into the further development and definition of the optimisation scenarios. The project will run until February 2026 and it is planned to present the results to a wider public in autumn 2025.

We would like to thank all participants for their time and valuable contributions!

ModErn – Modelling the ecological effects of the revised DGE dietary recommendations commissioned by the Federal Environment Agency (UBA, funding code: 3723 36 101 0; duration: February 2024 to February 2026).