Saving the world, together, one day at a time.
The Case for Dietary Change
There is now a vast wealth of impartial, peer reviewed, meta-analysis, produced by some of the most respected organisations in the world, all of which conclude that we need to radically transform our food system, move away from animal product production, and embrace plant-based diets, as an essential component of addressing climate change.
Here's just the briefest snapshot.
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A report published by the Worldwatch Institute indicates that 51% of worldwide greenhouse-gas emissions can be attributed to animal agriculture, specifically to cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels and pigs which are raised and killed for food.
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A study published in New Scientist magazine indicates that each person can reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that their eating habits contribute to climate change by up to 60 per cent eating a plant-based diet.
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An Oxford University study concluded that people who eat meat are responsible for almost twice as many dietary greenhouse-gas emissions per day as vegetarians and about 2.5 times as many emissions as vegans (vegetarians who also refrain from consuming eggs, dairy products and other animal-derived items).
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The study shows that people who eat more than 0.1 kg of meat per day—about the size of a deck of playing cards—generate 7.2 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) each day, while vegetarians and vegans generate 3.8 kg and 2.9 kg of CO2e, respectively.
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That means, according to this study, the dietary emissions for meat-eaters are 50 to 54 per cent higher than they are for vegetarians and 99 to 102 per cent higher than for vegans.
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It may be concluded that everyone can help halt climate change just by eating plant-based foods.
Not convinced?
Have a read of some the articles that are linked below.
Look at the sources of the research and consider the reputations of the organisations involved.
And if you're still not convinced, are you sure you're paying attention?
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Article (Selection will open a new page in your browser)
Here’s How Much Food Contributes to Climate Change (Scientific American)
Shifting to Plant-Based Diets Can Help Mitigate Climate Change (Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine)
Embracing a Plant Based Diet (Stanford University)
Healthy diets for a healthier planet
(United Nations)
The climate benefits of veganism and vegetarianism (BBC)
How a plant‑rich diet can help fight climate change (PHYS ORG)
Food system impacts on biodiversity loss (Chatham House)
Global food system emissions could preclude achieving the 1.5° and 2°C climate change targets (Science)
Replacing animal agriculture and shifting to a plant-based diet could drastically curb greenhouse gas emissions (Stanford)
Methane From 15 Meat, Dairy Producers Nearly as Much as EU’s Total Methane Emissions (Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine)
A Vegan Diet: Eating for the Environment (Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine)
Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered
(New York Times)
Climate-friendly diets can make a huge difference – even if you don’t go all-out vegan (Guardian)
Food and Climate Change (John Hopkins University)
How diet affects climate change (UCLA)
Climate change: Substituting food items rather than whole diets can still make a big difference (Medical News Today)
Journalists Are Making The Same Mistake With Dietary Change They Made With Climate Change: Study (Forbes)
We must change what we eat to solve the climate crisis, shows research (Oxford University)
Climate change and the urgency to transform food systems
(Science)
Veggie-based diets could save 8 million lives by 2050 and cut global warming (Oxford University)
Or if you prefer, here is a whole series of Google pages, giving 2,300,000 links to scholarly articles about diet and climate change!
Net Zero initiatives can reduce Global Warming Potential (GWP) gases, but not by enough, and not quickly enough
