Summer vacation is the perfect time to enjoy a barbecue.
But scientists from the University of Birmingham say that rather than opting for sausages and burgers, you should opt for veggie skewers.
A new study claims that eating a “planet-healthy diet” based on fruits, vegetables, grains, plant proteins and unsaturated oils could help save the planet.
Unfortunately for meat lovers, this diet contains very small amounts of dairy products and “animal-derived proteins” such as eggs, fish and meat.
The researchers estimate that if everyone worldwide adopted sustainable diets, food-related greenhouse gas emissions could fall by 17%.
Researchers argue that eating an “Earth Healthy Diet” based on fruits, vegetables, grains, plant proteins and unsaturated oils could help save the planet.
Unlike vegans and vegetarians, the Planetary Health Diet does not eliminate meat intake completely, but rather significantly reduces it.
Unlike veganism or vegetarianism, the Planetary Health Diet drastically reduces meat intake rather than eliminating it completely.
Experts suggest limiting the intake of animal-based proteins (meat and fish) to 3.6% of total food intake.
Meanwhile, dairy intake remained the same at 3.6 percent, with the remainder of the diet made up of whole grains (17 percent), plant-based protein (such as tofu and nuts, 11.7 percent), unsaturated vegetable oils (9.5 percent), added sugars (3 percent), and starchy vegetables (1.5 percent).
“If planet-friendly diets were adopted worldwide, current annual global dietary emissions could decrease by 17 percent,” the researchers wrote in their paper.
“This is likely due in large part to a shift in dietary intake from red meat to legumes and nuts as the primary protein source.”
For the study, the researchers looked at data on household food consumption and food-related greenhouse gas emissions.
The survey results showed that 56.9% of the world’s population currently “overconsume”, meaning they eat too much meat and dairy products.
If this majority adopted planet-friendly diets, it would reduce food-related greenhouse gas emissions by 32.4 percent.
Overall, China (accounting for 13.5 percent of emissions) and India (accounting for 8.9 percent) are the world’s most populous countries and therefore the largest contributors to global dietary emissions.
Experts suggest limiting animal protein (meat and fish) intake to 3.6% of total food intake, the same for dairy (3.6%), with the remainder of the diet made up of whole grains (17%), vegetable proteins (11.7%), unsaturated vegetable oils (9.5%), added sugars (3%) and starchy vegetables (1.5%).
Our meat-heavy diet is fuelled by intensive animal agriculture, which destroys habitats and releases greenhouse gases (file photo)
Scientists have long been vocal about the huge carbon footprint caused by humanity’s penchant for meat, fish and dairy, especially beef.
The livestock industry contributes to global warming through emissions of methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide from livestock and their supply chains.
Additionally, cutting down forests to make room for raising cattle reduces the amount of trees available to absorb carbon dioxide.
“The food system accounts for roughly one-third of global anthropogenic (human-made) greenhouse gas emissions,” the study authors warn.
“Climate goals cannot be met without efforts to reduce food-related emissions.”
The team found that the United States, Australia and Western Europe (including the UK) currently consume the most meat in the world.
Meanwhile, India, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries have the lowest meat consumption, tending to instead eat more grains and dairy products.
The US, Australia and Western Europe (including the UK) are the world’s biggest meat consumers, and this chart shows the proportion of foods that make up the average diet in these regions (meat is in green).
India, Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries are among the countries with the lowest meat consumption, the researchers found.
Not surprisingly, poorer Eastern countries place more emphasis on consuming grains such as rice and barley than developed countries, which eat a lot of meat.
As a result, the researchers point out that not “everyone” in the world contributes equally to food-related greenhouse gas emissions.
The researchers acknowledge that many poorer countries cannot afford to widely abandon meat eating, so developed countries may bear the greatest responsibility in future.
“We should strive to reduce overconsumption of emissions-intensive products in wealthy countries, such as beef from Australia and the United States, especially for the wealthy consumer classes who are over-consuming,” Dr Yuri Xiang said.
“This will have huge health and climate benefits.”
This map shows global dietary greenhouse gas emissions in 2019. Overall, China (13.5% of emissions) and India (8.9%) are the largest contributors to global dietary emissions as they are the world’s most populous countries.
Introducing incentives such as traffic light emissions labels and increasing the availability of low-emissions products, such as vegetarian foods, can encourage consumers to make dietary changes.
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is key to preventing climate disasters Of course, the food industry is just one source of emissions.
Eventually, they believe, the greenhouse effect would cause the Earth to become so warm that it would lead to widespread heatstroke and death, flooding of coastal cities due to melting polar ice, and food shortages.
The study was published today in the journal Nature Climate Change.
