transitioning to a plant based diet
if you’re looking to reduce your environmental impact, eating more plants is the single, most impactful action you can take. maybe this seems like quite an easy step for you to take, or maybe the word “vegan” makes you shudder. either way, I encourage you to read on and decide for yourself.
the idea of being a “vegan” is often associated with hard core hippies, PETA advocates, or that annoying friend who won’t stop telling you they are vegan. this idea of the typical vegan is perpetuated over and over again in social media memes and the like. I’m here to tell you 1) those kinds of vegans are a very small subsect and 2) you don’t need to be 100% vegan to have a positive environmental impact.
to reduce your environmental impact, you simply need to eat less animal products. for some that might mean transitioning from cow’s milk to almond milk, for others that might mean having meat free dinners a few times a week. it can (and will) look different for everyone because everyone has a different lifestyle. the point here is: it is not all or nothing. sustainability in general requires a combination of many solutions and that applies to what you eat as well.
so what exactly is the environmental impact of animal products? and how does that compare to plant based products?
the widely cited Oxford study found that transitioning to a more plant based diet could reduce food related greenhouse gas emissions from 29-70%. people who eat more that 3.5 oz of meat a day (smaller than a typical American serving) generate 15.9 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent. comparatively, a vegan generates 6.4 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent. simply put, the average diet generates more than twice the emissions!
carbon dioxide equivalent, or CO2e, is the standardized climate effect of various greenhouse gases over a period of time, typically 100 years. carbon dioxide has a CO2e of 1. methane gas has a carbon dioxide CO2e of 28, meaning it is 28 times more impactful.
to get a better sense of what this looks like, let’s get compare greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of food:
beef: 60kg CO2e
poultry: 6kg CO2e
eggs: 4.5 kg CO2e
peas: 0.9 kg CO2e
root veggies: 0.4 kg CO2e
you can read more about how these numbers were calculated here.
by eating less animal products, you will have fewer food related greenhouse gas emissions, and a smaller overall impact on the planet. you could eat some animal products, just less frequently and in smaller portions. once more: it is not all or nothing.
beyond the greenhouse gas emissions, animal production for food also has many other negative environmental impacts, including land degradation, deforestation, water quality impairment, pollution, and creation of waste.
bonus motivation for eating more plant based: a bevy of health benefits. to name a few:
lower risk of heart disease and better heart health
lower risk of cancer, particularly compared to high red meat intake which has been linked to prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, and colorectal cancer
a healthy vegan diet, one that is full of whole foods, such as whole grains, fruits, veggies, and legumes can also help with weight maintenance, digestion, and provide a diet rich in vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats.
**remember that vegan doesn’t necessarily = healthy, you can eat plenty of processed foods and be vegan so it’s important to still focus on the quality of your food and eating food with minimal ingredients. there are considerations for going vegan, the most common being vitamin B12, calcium, and iron, so it’s worth consulting your doctor or a registered dietician to see if you might need to supplement.
basically, to care for your health and the health of a planet, eat more plants :)
questions about plant based / vegetarian / vegan diets? lmk!
