Austrians are being encouraged to bid auf wiederschauen to the wiener schnitzel with the publication of new dietary guidelines that are heavy on the plants and increasingly light on meat and dairy.
The new “plate” of foodstuffs recommended for consumption in the land of Mozart and the Habsburgs is split down the middle, half of it laden with fruit and vegetables, a quarter with whole grains and potatoes and a quarter with protein – most of it plant-based. Germany opted for a similar split earlier this year, recommending that its citizens tuck into meals that are at least 75 per cent veggie or vegan.
The goal of such plates, or nutrition wheels, is not only to make people healthier, but also more planet-aware. They mimic the “planetary health diet”, created by the EAT-Lancet Commission, which advised five years ago that consumption of red meat needed to be cut by 50 per cent – and by 80 per cent in rich countries such as the UK. A year later, a report by the University of Oxford said that countries around the world were guilty of a “shocking” failure to promote more eco-friendly diets, which is why it’s great to see such progress.
Showing how far plant-based eating has come in recent years, with a proliferating number of scientific reports highlighting the benefits, there is now a place under “pulses and legumes” for newer plant-protein products in the guidelines, developed by the health ministry in collaboration with the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety and the Austrian Society for Nutrition. And as it comes with a cookbook, Austrians will not only be able to tell their tofu from their tempeh but rustle up a delicious meal with them too.
The guidelines not only caution against eating meat products, which as well as being harmful for health can be bad for the planet in terms of carbon emissions and depletion of resources such as land and water, but dairy products too. Rather than using butter, for example, they recommend rapeseed or olive oil instead, while Germans are being advised to consume two portions of dairy a day, rather than three.
As Austria’s social affairs minister, Johannes Rauch, said: “A conscious diet with a focus on vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes is not only good for the planet, but it also helps us live longer and healthier.”
And it isn’t just Austria and Germany: dietary guidelines it seems are being updated around the world. Last year the Nordic Council of Ministers produced a report that promoted a plant-based diet heavy on fruit, veg, legumes and whole grains that will help inform the individual recommendations of Denmark – which recently taxed cow emissions – Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Taiwan introduced a Climate Change Response Act setting out the steps it will take to reach net zero by 2050, including by promoting a plant-based diet. And Canada produced a food guide that advises: “Vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and protein foods should be consumed regularly. Among protein foods, consume plant-based more often.”