The Ultimate Climate Diet: The Vegan Argument

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As you might have heard, the state of the environment today is pretty bad. The climate is changing rapidly, not like anything the Earth has ever experienced. The average global temperature has risen by 0.8°C in the last century[1]. This might not sound bad, but it’s having adverse effects on the planet; from raging fires (such as the wildfires that have wreaked havoc in California for 3 consecutive years) and category 5 hurricanes (like Hurricane Dorian, that ravaged Abaco in The Bahamas), to extinctions of species every day! It’s affecting human health too, with certain infectious diseases on the rise. This is all a result of human-induced climate change and environmental degradation. Can eating differently really make a positive impact?
Photo by Markus Spiske temporausch.com from Pexels 
Well, the US EPA says that 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) in 2010 were from agriculture, forestry and other land use. That’s a lot considering the transport sector produced 14% of the GHGs that year[2]. GHGs like carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide are produced in large amounts by agriculture. But, even small amounts of methane and nitrous oxide can have a very harmful greenhouse effect. And guess what, in 2005, agriculture was responsible for 50% and 60% of methane and nitrous oxide emissions (that were produced from human activity) respectively! [3]


Now, veganism (a lifestyle in which one does not consume or use meat or animal products, like dairy, or leather) is regarded by many as the diet that has the lowest environmental impact. Well, here’s why a lot of scientists think so:


The livestock sector occupies about 30% of the ice-free terrestrial surface on the planet!  Also, approximately 1/3 of the global cereal harvest was used to feed livestock in 2002. So, not only is a lot of land used to graze the animals, but also to feed them (Steinfeld & Gerber, 2006). This means that livestock production contributes largely to deforestation, so a lot of the CO2 we humans produce can’t be absorbed since there are a lot less trees to use it.

Cattle, like cows, also fart a lot. Sounds funny, but their gassiness means that they produce plenty of methane, which warms the earth. So, if you eat foods like beef and dairy products regularly, your diet may be contributing large amounts of GHGs to the atmosphere. In fact, according to the journal, Climatic Change, 18% of all GHG emissions are from livestock[4]. 

Manure lagoons are also a factor that must be considered. These are a form of wastewater treatment in which deep, earthen basins are filled with animal waste from large-scale cattle operations and left to be decomposed by bacteria, which produce loads of methane.

From this evidence, you can see why the vegan diet is advocated by many environmental activists. But, what’s the other side of the story? Is eating a little meat going to lead to the demise of the environment? Stay tuned for my next post!





[1] Steinfeld, H., Gerber, P., Wassenaar, T., Castel, V., Rosales, M. & De Haan, C. (2006). Livestock’s long shadow: environmental issues and options. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
[2] United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2019). Global greenhouse gas emissions data.https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data
[3]Carlsson-Kanyama, A., Gonzรกles, A. D. (2009). Potential contributions of food consumption patterns to climate change. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 89(5), 1704S-1709S.
https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.2009.26736AA


[4] Stehfest, E., Bouwman, L., van Vuuren, D.P., den Elzen, M.G.J., Eickhout, B. & Kabat, P. (2009). Climate benefits of changing diet. Climatic Change, 95(1-2), 83-102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-008-9534-6  
Other References
1. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Municipal Technology Branch. (2002). Wastewater technology fact sheet: Anaerobic lagoons [PDF File]. Retrieved from: https://www3.epa.gov/npdes/pubs/alagoons.pdf 
2. Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). Livestock. In Dictionary.cambridge.org dictionary. Retrieved September 30, 2019, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/livestock 

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