Plant-based diet
Transitioning to a plant-based diet is one of the best things individuals can do to lower their individual carbon footprint and support the collective shift away from animal agriculture.
Plant-based diets have a much lower carbon footprint than diets heavy in meat and animal products.
Read below for more information:
“We currently use 17.5m hectares of farmland in the UK. Fairlie finds that while a diet containing a moderate amount (less than we currently consume) of meat, dairy and eggs would require the use of 11m hectares of land (4m of which would be arable), a vegan diet would demand a total of just 3m. Not only do humans need no pasture, but we use grains and pulses more efficiently when we eat them ourselves.
This would enable more than 14m hectares of the land now used for farming to be set aside for nature. Alternatively, on a vegan planet, Britain could feed 200 million people.”
The Guardian, George Monbiot: ‘On a vegan planet, Britain could feed 200 million people’
“The negotiation of a Plant Based Treaty as a companion to the UNFCCC Paris Agreement would put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate crisis. Modeled on the popular Fossil Fuel Treaty, the Plant Based Treaty aims to halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture and to promote a shift to healthier, sustainable plant-based diets.”
“It’s no secret that climate change discourse is shrouded in obfuscation, disinformation, greenwashing and lies, both outright and of omission. But a recent leak of a draft of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on March 20 has been particularly enlightening when it comes to just how much how delegations negotiate, watered down, and delete scientists’ findings.
Micheal Thomas, who writes the climate newsletter Distilled, outlined the shift in wording driven by Brazil and Argentina, countries with large and influential beef industries. As Thomas points out, the IPCC report’s authors initially recommended a shift to plant-based diets, stating that “plant-based diets can reduce GHG emissions by up to 50% compared to the average emission-intensive Western diet,” according to a draft leaked by Scientist Rebellion…
While Monday’s IPCC report was the result of synthesizing years of research, Brazil and Argentina have been diligently pushing to delete references to “plant-based diets,” meat as a “high-carbon” food, and “Meatless Mondays” for years, according to a previous draft leaked in 2021 and analyzed by Unearthed, Greenpeace’s investigative outlet.”
QZ, The meat industry got the IPCC to edit a climate change report
“Eating a vegan diet massively reduces the damage to the environment caused by food production, the most comprehensive analysis to date has concluded.
The research showed that vegan diets resulted in 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use than diets in which more than 100g of meat a day was eaten. Vegan diets also cut the destruction of wildlife by 66% and water use by 54%, the study found.”
The Guardian, Vegan diet massively cuts environmental damage, study shows
More Reading:
George Monbiot, Regenesis: Feeding the World Without Devouring the Planet
Harvard Health, What is a plant-based diet and why should you try it?