As a rule of thumb, the average adult should consume about 1,600 calories per day. This figure takes into account our “less labour-intensive lifestyle” relative to that of our ancestors. The big problem is that the average adult is consuming a lot more than 1,600 calories per day. In the developed world, the average adult consumes about 3,200 calories – double the calories required! This is actually more than a big problem, as these excess 1,600 calories have to be produced, and to produce this food we utilize the valuable and limited resources of our planet. This means that more vegetation has to be cleared to produce grains, fruit and vegetables, and to raise livestock. More water has to be used to sustain these higher production levels. Farmers have to resort to further genetic modification to improve crop yields and inject livestock with undesirable chemicals to increase output. We need more fabric to make larger garments… Oh, and airlines need to use more fuel to transport the same number of people around… The impact of us growing bigger and heavier is endless🙄.
There are currently about 7.7 billion people living on our planet. Our resources are already very stretched – scientists estimate that our planet is only able to sustain about one billion people naturally. We are sustaining a much bigger population through artificial means, and, by doing so, stressing our planet’s resources. If the average adult is consuming more than the 1,600 calories needed, the stress on our planet is even greater than we are aware of. The actual impact of the current 7.7 billion population is probably closer to sustaining 9 to 10 billion people given our excess consumption. The picture becomes even more scary if you take into account that our population is on course to cross the 10 billion mark by the end of the century. As we have discovered over the last decade, if we don’t rein in our excesses, we will be forced to do so via climate change. All the more reason to get slim and stay slim!
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