International desk: Eating more fruits and vegetables and less meat can actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it can also reduce global mortality rate by 10 percent.

Over a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions arise from food production according to experts.

Millions of lives and trillions of dollars could be saved if people all over the world ate more fruits and vegetables and less red meat, according to a new study conducted by Oxford Martin Program on the Future of Food.

This would also reduce the harmful effect of greenhouse gas emissions and help halt the worst effects of climate change.

A report, published in the journal of the National Academy of Sciences, argues that food-related emissions could fall between 29 and 70 percent by 2050 were the world’s population to adhere to certain dietary guidelines established by global health agencies.

Global mortality could drop by as much as 10 percent — preventing as many as 8.1 million deaths per year — and between $1 trillion and $31 trillion could be saved. The estimate varies depending on the consumption of animal products. The report was published in the Huffington Post.

Over a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions come from food production, and up to 80 percent of that comes from resource-intensive livestock.

Man-made carbon emissions are the principal force driving climate change which includes; droughts, rising sea levels and human health crises.

Emissions have leveled off in the past two years, but global temperatures are still set to exceed a temperature threshold that scientists say humanity must avoid for its own survival.

According to the study, the combined people of Earth would need to eat 25 percent more fruits and vegetables and 56 percent less red meat in order to save 5.1 million lives per year and achieve a 29 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

If the planet were to go completely vegan- a vegetarian who eats plant products only, according to the journal, it could prevent as many as 8.1 million deaths a year.

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