A new study finds that swapping burgers and kebabs for meatless alternatives can help slow climate change. The study found that consuming just 100 grams of meat a day (less than one hamburger) generates four times more greenhouse gases than a vegan diet. Researchers are now calling for a shift away from diets based on animal products.
How a Taste for Meat Fuels the Greenhouse Effect
Previous studies have shown that cutting back on meat benefits health, including lowering the risk of heart disease. Lead author Professor Peter Scarborough emphasizes that dietary choices affect both individual health and the planet.
His team analyzed data from more than 38,000 farms in over 100 countries. Scarborough says the study finds that meat-heavy diets have the biggest impact on several environmental indicators, including climate change and biodiversity loss. He argues that reducing meat and dairy consumption could substantially shrink our food footprint.
Scientists have long noted the big carbon footprint of meat—especially beef—fish, and dairy. Livestock farming contributes to global warming through methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon emissions from animals and their supply chains. Deforestation to create pastureland also cuts the number of trees that absorb carbon.
The study’s authors say dietary changes are needed to stay within safe ecological limits for greenhouse gas emissions. The increase in these emissions is leading to rising sea levels and extreme heat, threatening life on Earth.
Vegan Diets and Cutting Meat Will Help the Planet
For the study, Professor Scarborough and his colleagues linked dietary data from 55,500 individuals with information about the environmental impact of the foods they ate. The participants included both meat-eaters and vegetarians, with the former divided into three categories based on their average daily meat intake (over 100 grams, between 50–100 grams, and less than 50 grams).
Researchers found that the impact of vegan diets on greenhouse gas emissions was 25% of that of high-meat consumers. In other words, consuming 100 grams of meat or more on average generates four times more greenhouse gases than a vegan diet.
The researchers found a roughly 30% difference between high- and low-meat diets for most environmental damage indicators. Thus, significantly reducing meat consumption can greatly help the planet. It’s not necessary to completely eliminate meat to achieve this.
However, the vegan diet has consistently been recognized as the best option regarding various environmental impacts—carbon emissions, water usage, land use, and biodiversity. The latest research indicates that eliminating all meat from our diets over the next 15 years could cut global carbon emissions by about 68%.
According to another study, meat consumption should be limited to the equivalent of two hamburgers per week to avoid a climate crisis. A separate British report advocated serving vegan meals in schools, prisons, and hospitals to increase their popularity among the general public. Scarborough’s team also supports encouraging consumers to change their diets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Can Lab-Grown Meat Save the Environment?
Lab-grown meat is expected to become more common this decade, turning into a staple in our refrigerators. The world’s first lab-grown hamburger, made from cow muscle cells, was introduced back in 2013.
Currently, Mosa Meat is pioneering a “kinder and cleaner” way to produce beef. The company extracts cells from the animal’s muscles while it is under anesthesia.
The company places these cells in a dish of nutrients and growth factors, letting them multiply until trillions of cells grow from a small sample. Those cells then form muscle fibers that fuse together into edible tissue.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Mosa Meat has also developed cultivated fat, which it adds to the muscle tissue to create a final product that tastes just like meat.
Developers believe that over time it will become popular with animal rights activists and may replace plant-based substitutes like soy burgers. Combined with reduced food waste and shifts in consumer behavior, these technologies could significantly reduce greenhouse-gas-driven global warming.
