More plants, less animals: how to eat for a better future?
‘What we eat greatly influences our personal health and the global environment’ (Dr. Marco Springmann)
Suitable publication: The Environmental Blog.org
The world realises our planet is in a huge danger. Companies and individuals are working hard to solve this issue. Everybody knows about recycling, avoiding plastic, and walking instead of driving. However, there is another significant issue that is almost never mentioned due to its unpopularity: the consumption of animal products.
Consuming, testing on, and wearing animals is not only cruel, and unethical but also has a terrible impact on the environment. The good news is, there are things we can do to help, even without making any radical changes in our life.
What’s the problem?
Animal farming is incredibly resource-intensive.
Takes up land.
The more animals we need to breed, the more land we need to free up for that. Animal farming uses 70% of all agricultural land and is also responsible for deforestation: ‘Expansion of livestock production is a key factor in deforestation, especially in Latin America where the greatest amount of deforestation is occurring — 70 percent of previous forested land in the Amazon is occupied by pastures, and feed crops cover a large part of the remainder’ (Steinfeld, 2006).
Pollutes and uses too much of our waters.
‘The major sources of pollution are from animal wastes, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used for feed crops, and sediments from eroded pastures’ (Steinfeld, 2006). This can cause human health problems, degradation of coral reefs, the ‘dead’ zones in coastal areas, and many more. Besides that, a significant amount of water is needed for the irrigation of feed crops, and for animals to drink.
It’s one of the reasons for climate change.
According to research, ‘the food system is responsible for more than a quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), of which up to 80% are associated with livestock production’ (Springmann, 2016).
The harm of the production of animal products on our planet is undeniable. The Earth’s population is constantly growing, and most of the cuisines are heavily based on foods from animals. Thus, more and more animals need to be bred, which means the impact is getting bigger.
The best way to help is to reduce the amount of animal products we consume.
Don’t worry, this post is not here to convince you to go vegan. It’s simply about eating fewer animal products than you’d normally do. If you think about it, we hardly have a meal that is completely plant-based. Eggs for breakfast, fish and chips for lunch, and a meat dish for dinner. While this might be a bit overgeneralised, there is some truth to it.
Changing your diet could be the key to reduce your ecological impact. Increasing the fruit and vegetable intake and reducing the consumption of animal products could lead to a more sustainable future. As Dr. Marco Springmann, the leader of the ‘Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change co-benefits of dietary change’ study said:
‘We do not expect everybody to become vegan, but climate change impacts of the food system will be hard to tackle and likely require more than just technological changes. Adopting healthier and more environmentally sustainable diets can be a large step in the right direction. The size of the projected benefits should encourage individuals, industry, and policy makers to act decisively to make sure that what we eat preserves our environment and our health’.
He suggests that people could make a difference even without giving up all their favourite foods.
A few slight changes you might want to consider:
· Reduce your meat intake. If you eat meat three times a day, try eating it only once or twice instead. Later, you could try having meat-dishes only a few times a week.
· Completely avoid beef and lamb because those have the biggest impact of all the meat.
· Have one or two days a week when you only eat plant-based foods. It might be a bit tricky at first, but many amazing alternatives, great recipes, and nice vegan food serving places exist today, which makes it easier.
If you try and practice one of these habits, you already did something positive for the environment. However, if you’d like to do even more and are ready to give up on animal products for the planet, a plant-based diet is for you.
What is a plant-based diet?
People on a plant-based diet avoid all animal products, including meat, fish, dairy, egg, and honey. They get all the nutrients from fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, and legumes. This way of eating, although not perfect, still has less negative impact on the environment.
As an example, the chart below shows that almond milk, which is the most environmentally damaging plant milk, still has a less impact than dairy milk.
Completely changing your diet might seem like a huge, unrealistic step, but you don’t have to do it from one day to another. Vegan alternatives make the transition easier, but if you dig deeper into this topic, you will realise how many simple, yet delicious foods there are which you can prepare at home.
Whatever you choose, whether you go completely plant-based, or just make a few slight changes in your diet, it has a positive effect, which our planet will appreciate.
Resources:
Met Office. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate-change/what-is-climate-change. Accessed 15. Novemer 2020.
Springmann, Marco; Godfray, H. Charles J.; Rayner, Mike; Scarborough Peter. “Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change”. Pinas. First published: 21. March 2016. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1523119113
Steinfeld, Henning. Livestock’s long shadow: environmental issues and options., Fao Inter-Departmental Working Group, 2006
The Vegan Society, ‘Statistics’, https://www.vegansociety.com/news/media/statistics, Accessed: 15. November 2020
