suIs Veganism Really Beneficial For The Environment?
Veganism has gotten very popular over the last few years. People believe there are a lot of different health benefits of switching to a vegan diet such as reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes, losing weight etc. Alongside these health benefits one of the most common reasons why people switch to a vegan diet is the benefits of it for the environment. But is veganism really beneficial for the environment? And is it viable for the food production systems in countries across the world?
From afar, switching to a vegan diet might seem like one of the most effective ways to reduce our carbon footprints and help save our planet. The Food And Agriculture Organisation Of The United Nations cited that on a commodity-basis, beef and cattle milk are responsible for the most emissions, respectively, contributing 41 percent and 20 percent of the sector’s overall GHG outputs. They are followed by pig meat (9 percent of emissions), buffalo milk and meat (8 percent), chicken meat and eggs (8 percent), and small ruminant milk and meat (6 percent). The remaining emissions are sourced to other poultry species and non-edible products. As cited, meat and animal products are one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions. The UN suggests having a more plant-based diet focusing on seasonal and local foods, consumption of fish only from sustainable stocks and the reduction of red and processed meat. According to an article published by the National Academy Of Science, it is entirely possible to meet the nutrient requirements of individual humans with carefully crafted, unsupplemented plant-based rations. So, if everyone switches to a vegan diet, can we save the planet while also meeting basic nutrient requirements? Not exactly. While most people being vegan has its benefits for the environment, it also comes with a lot of challenges and it is not very attainable for countries’ food production systems.
First of all, let’s talk about why being vegan is not as environmentally friendly as we think it is. In the last 3 years, the amount of people going vegan in the US has increased by 600% and in the UK by 350%. There has been a massive demand for fruits and vegetables over the years. Many people going vegan is not attainable for countries’ food production systems. In a research article written by Robin R. White and Mary Beth Hall, it is said that even though it is possible to balance plant-based diets for individual humans, it may be a challenge for these diets to scale well within the food production system because of the different types of plants that can be grown in available climates and soils. Most of the food consumed by vegans are imported and airlifted from other countries. Because of the number of people switching to a vegan diet, some countries can’t keep up with the production and transportation of these foods. For example, Kenya decided to stop exporting avocados because of their shortage of stock. In Mexico, avocado prices went up so much that Mexicans were not able to buy them. Also, the rise in the avocado pricing fueled illegal deforestation in Mexico. Because a mature avocado orchard uses almost twice as much water as fairly dense forest, forests cannot reach sufficient water resources. Agricultural chemicals and large amounts of wood used for the transportation of the fruitare also some factors that affect wildlife and the health of locals negatively. All the environmental costs that come with shipping and airlifting are a lot, and do more damage than good to our planet.
In conclusion, even though going vegan might seem like a great idea, it has a lot of consequences regarding health and the environment. Taking all of the arguments listed above into consideration, veganism is not really beneficial for the environment nor is it viable for countries’ food production systems.
Work Cited:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oUG_Q5yBjY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bvoJAfjWMM
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200211-why-the-vegan-diet-is-not-always-green
https://www.pnas.org/content/114/48/E10301
https://www.pma.com/~/media/pma-files/research-and-development/usa.pdf?la=en
https://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197623/icode/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969719319758#!
