WWF calculator: assessing the planetary and health impact of diets around the world

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is one of the main global organizations dedicated to promoting sustainable diets through extensive research and reporting.

The WWF calculator is the practical application of their scientific investigations, enabling all individuals to evaluate the impact of their personal dietary choices on planetary systems and health outcomes.

The calculator considers the dietary patterns and recommendations of more than 140 countries, and users can select their country.

The user inputs their habitual dietary habits, by selecting the number of servings of 13 food groups consumed over a week:

• Grains

• Fruit & vegetables

• Roots and tubers

• Legumes, nuts & seeds

• Red meat

• Fish

• Poultry

• Dairy

• Eggs

• Fats & oils

• Sugars

• Coffee, tea & cocoa

• Alcohol

A slider system allows individuals to select the average weekly servings of each food group. The calculator indicates the 'healthy' or 'recommended' number of weekly servings of each food group and highlights if a deficient or excessive serving has been selected. The calculator also provides further information on each food group to help users understand their choices.

As dietary inputs are selected, the calculator displays the daily energy value and notes any deviations from optimal or sub-optimal recommendations.

Additionally, the calculator provides a visual representation of the impact on six planetary boundaries through bar charts, highlighting the maximum impact that should be reached.

• Biodiversity loss

• Greenhouse gas emissions

• Cropland use

• Grazing land use

• Water use

• Eutrophication

The calculator employs a color-coded traffic light system to signify if the diet is within, slightly surpassing, or exceeding a particular planetary boundary. If any of the boundaries are exceeded, the calculator suggests which food group needs to be altered.

Moreover, users can delve deeper into each boundary by clicking on the relevant bar chart. This action leads to additional information, including the relative contribution from each food group.

The calculator is great to use as it can be tailored to individual and national needs.

CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT WHAT YOUR DIETARY FOOTPRINT IS

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