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Can sustainable diets ever be palatable?

There is broad consensus among environmental scientists that our diets are literally killing the planet. What can we do to encourage a shift in global diet to avoid the worst impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss? Achieving this won’t be easy. Our eating habits and tastes are both deeply personal and deeply entwined in our cultural, religious and nationalistic norms. Moreover, despite global diets being in constant flux, and despite there being many precedents for governments influencing what we eat, the topic remains highly contentious. In this session we explore two key questions: First, what works in promoting more sustainable eating? Second, how might we navigate the issue of political and public acceptability?

Toby Park of the Behavioural Insights Team, Dame Theresa Marteau of the University of Cambridge, Sophie Attwood of the World Resources Institute, Kerry McCarthy, MP and Sue Pritchard of RSA Food, Farming & Countryside Commission discuss at BX2019.