Eating green means considering biodiversity as well as climate change

I thought my Mediterranean-style diet was helping the planet, but while it has reduced my carbon footprint, it is harming Earth’s biodiversity, finds Graham Lawton

By Graham Lawton

I HAVE been writing a lot about food recently, from the perspective of both human and planetary health and longevity. Happily, those two goals are often in harmony – in a nutshell, eat less meat and other animal products – which gives me a healthy inner glow topped with a green halo. I stopped eating the flesh of mammals and birds a few years ago and largely stick to a Mediterranean-style diet, which involves eating more fruit, vegetables and whole grains.

But as I found out recently to my dismay, I may have to relinquish that halo. Like many environmentally conscious eaters, …