Quantifying the impact of the food we eat on species extinctions

Abstract

Agriculturally-driven habitat degradation and destruction is the biggest threat to global biodiversity, yet the impacts on extinctions of different types of food and where they are produced and the mitigation potential of different interventions remain poorly quantified. Here we link the LIFE biodiversity metric – a high-resolution global layer describing the marginal impact of land-use on extinctions of ~30K vertebrate species – with food consumption and production data and provenance modelling. Using an opportunity-cost framing we discover that the impact of what we eat on species extinctions varies widely both across and within foods, in many cases by more than an order of magnitude. Despite marked differences in per-capita impacts across countries, there are consistent patterns that could be leveraged for mitigating harm to biodiversity. We anticipate the approach and results outlined here could inform decision-making across many levels, from national policies to individual dietary choices.