Download the Full and Summary Reports

The LiveWell Plate, presented in the report A balance of healthy and sustainable food choices for France, Spain, and Sweden released today, is a visual representation of food that is good for people and the environment. The Plate conveys the types and portions of food we need to eat more of – cereals and legumes; and what we should eat less of – meat, both red and white. Evidence presented shows that eating this way can significantly contribute towards a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the EU food supply chain. And, reducing current emissions is not only easy, the diet costs no more, meets national nutritional guidelines, and resembles current diets sufficiently to be widely and easily accepted.

The report presents three LiveWell Plates developed around the traditional diets of different European countries – France, Spain and Sweden. These countries were chosen for the range of dietary contexts they represent and their different levels of policy readiness to adopt a sustainable diet concept.

The Plates were developed by considering national nutritional guidelines, which vary considerably between the countries. By doing this, the report demonstrates that the LiveWell concept is transferable and that a more sustainable – or, more specifically, low-carbon – diet can be defined whatever the location, food culture and traditions. This makes the LiveWell Plate a unique and powerful tool.

Duncan Williamson, Corporate Stewardship Manager, food policy comments:

“We believe the LiveWell Plate can – if adopted – provide a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the pilot countries’ food supply chains by 2020. Because France, Spain and Sweden are large producers of food, this will contribute significantly to the EU’s overall target of a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.”

 “It is therefore very exciting to have demonstrated that the LiveWell Plate can be adapted to reflect the realities of different Member States. We believe the LiveWell diet is a good first step towards a more sustainable diet, and we will now use the Plate as a tool to influence the development of robust EU public policy recommendations as well as approaches for adopting a more sustainable diet across Europe.”

A balance of healthy and sustainable food choices for France, Spain, and Sweden and the LiveWell Plates build on the LiveWell for LIFE report on Food patterns and dietary recommendations in Sweden, Spain and France released in June 2012, and its release marks the end of the first stage of the LiveWell for LIFE project.

LiveWell for LIFE will now work together with members of the Network of European food stakeholders, to further establish a foundation for change towards more sustainable and healthy diets. Future work will involve identifying policy changes and implementation pathways which are robust and support a move towards sustainable diets across the EU.

You can view interactive case studies for France, Spain and Sweden, as well as read some of the report conclusions in the LiveWell Plate section of our website. Alternatively, you can download the full and summary reports for more detail.