Climate change has been increasingly highlighted in the world's media, and in recent documents to policy makers including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on climate change and land use, and EAT-Lancet Commission report on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Below is a video from Channel 4 news, which states that the food sector is responsible for 25% of all greenhouse gas emissions (more than trains, planes, and cars combined) and moving to a plant-based diet could reduce this by around 75%! 80% of the world's agricultural land is used to produce meat, but this provides only about 20% of the calories we eat.
Last year, the IPCC warned of the need to keep global warming below 1.5c to reduce the occurrence of severe heatwaves, droughts, rainfall, and the likelihood of an ice-free Arctic summer by 2100. The warning was clear, we have 12 years to limit the climate catastrophe. A key requirement for obtaining this goal was "deep reductions in agricultural emissions," and in their most recent report, healthy and sustainable diets rich in plant-based foods were highlighted as an important opportunity for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The carbon footprint of your diet
The graph below shows the emissions rates for 100g of protein of different food types. Red meats have very high emissions. Beef can account for up to 30 times the greenhouse gas emissions of tofu. Even the lowest emissions from beef produce six times more greenhouse gas emissions than the equivalent plant protein such as that derived from peas. The variability in greenhouse gas emissions of beef (see below) is striking and results from differences in production. Cattle raised on deforested land produce 12 times more greenhouse gases and use 50 times more land than those in nutrient-rich, natural pastures. Therefore, if we cut out half of the most harmful meat and dairy production and replace that with plant-based foods, this still provides two-thirds of the benefits of getting rid of meat and dairy production completely.
What is the best way to help the planet?
Your diet is "the single biggest way" to reduce your impact on the planet. In fact, just cutting down on your meat intake can make your diet more sustainable, improving both your health, and the health of the planet. Limiting beef intake to once every two weeks, for example, would greatly reduce your carbon footprint, and changing to a flexitarian diet would have a greater impact still. The figures certainly range on what dietary changes are necessary. The Lancet-EAT commission 2019 has suggested a reduction of "more than 50% in red meat consumption and a doubling of the intake of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes," as part of the 'planetary health diet' to feed the future population of 10 billion people in a sustainable and healthy way. In certain regions, the changes needed are more extreme with 84% less red meat suggested in North America with six times more beans and lentils, and 77% less red meat in Europe with 15 times more nuts and seeds. This accounts to one serving of beef a week and two portions of fish. Another study proposed more radical changes such as a 90% reduction in consumption of beef in UK and US.
Over the next few weeks, I hope to discuss in detail the effect of our diets on the planet, and to encourage you to make any changes you can. As policy makers become aware of the difference everyday dietary choices can make, I hope that subsidies in plant-based foods may occur to make this diet more affordable and accessible, and subsidies on the meat and dairy industry will be reduced. Before this post, I had no idea that our diets could be considered the principle way we can make a difference to our planet, nor that 7 meat meals a week each year for one family could equate to the same mass of carbon as 5 return flights to Malaga! Your choices matter and the Meat-free Mondays pledge is a great place to look if you're interested in making a change today.