headshot of Prof. Evan Fraser
Prof. Evan Fraser

Bad diet is the leading risk factor for early death around the world, new research has found. But it will take major changes to agriculture to change that, says a U of G expert.

Prof. Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute and a Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security, recently spoke to NPR and told the media outlet that the entire world can’t adopt a healthy diet under the current agriculture system. Too much fat, sugar and starchy food takes up agricultural resources that could be given to growing healthier foods, he said.

Fraser co-authored a large study published last fall that made similar conclusions. The study found that if everyone followed healthy nutritional recommendations, the agri-food sector would need to produce more plants and much less meat.

Fraser studies climate change, food security, food prices and rural agricultural policy.