Plant-Based Diets Linked with Much Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Study Finds

Following a plant-based diet has been con­firmed as the most sus­tain­able way to eat by a newly-pub­lished study.

The research pub­lished in Plos One shows that green­house gas (GHG) emis­sions asso­ci­ated with non-veg­e­tar­ian diets are 59 per­cent higher than those asso­ci­ated with veg­e­tar­ian diets. By itself, meat pro­duc­tion is respon­si­ble for 32 per­cent of all GHG emis­sions.

Globally, 30 per­cent of all GHG emis­sions come from food pro­duc­tion, with less envi­ron­men­tally sus­tain­able diets linked to the pro­duc­tion and con­sump­tion of processed food, which is often high in energy and low in nutri­tional qual­i­ties.

“To date, the envi­ron­men­tal impact of diets have mostly been based on a lim­ited num­ber of broad food groups,” the research team from the University of Leeds wrote.

The study pro­filed the eat­ing habits of 212 adults in the United Kingdom. The researchers linked GHG emis­sions to more than 3,000 foods listed in the U.K. Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (COFID), assess­ing the asso­ci­a­tion between indi­vid­u­als’ GHG emis­sions, nutri­ent intake and demo­graph­ics.

“We also iden­tify addi­tional infor­ma­tion required in dietary assess­ment to gen­er­ate more accu­rate envi­ron­men­tal impact data for indi­vid­ual-level diets,” the researchers wrote.

The results show that drinks account for 15 per­cent of the GHG emis­sions, while 14 per­cent are due to dairy, and eight per­cent are asso­ci­ated with cakes, bis­cuits and con­fec­tionery. Researchers also found that women tend to fol­low a more sus­tain­able dietary reg­i­men, with men’s diets asso­ci­ated with 41 per­cent more GHG emis­sions.

The researchers added that par­tic­i­pants whose intake of sat­u­rated fats, car­bo­hy­drates and sodium aligned with World Health Organization rec­om­men­da­tions were asso­ci­ated with lower GHG emis­sions.

“Policies encour­ag­ing sus­tain­able diets should focus on plant-based diets,” the researchers wrote. ​“Substituting tea, cof­fee and alco­hol with more sus­tain­able alter­na­tives, whilst reduc­ing less nutri­tious sweet snacks, presents fur­ther oppor­tu­ni­ties.”

“Healthier diets had lower GHG emis­sions, demon­strat­ing con­sis­tency between plan­e­tary and per­sonal health,” they added.

The researchers believe that fur­ther infor­ma­tion about the impact of food pro­duc­tion on global GHG emis­sions ​“could be gained from incor­po­rat­ing brand, pro­duc­tion meth­ods, post-retail emis­sions, coun­try of ori­gin and addi­tional envi­ron­men­tal impact indi­ca­tors.”

Previous stud­ies have shown that GHG emis­sions from global food pro­duc­tion exceed 17 bil­lion tons per year.

According to data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the world pro­duced just under 50 bil­lion tons of GHG emis­sions in 2015.

Of those 17 bil­lion tons of emis­sions asso­ci­ated with food pro­duc­tion, 57 per­cent come from the pro­duc­tion of ani­mal-based food, includ­ing live­stock feed. Meanwhile, 29 per­cent come from plant-based food, and 14 per­cent are asso­ci­ated with other land uses.

“We all want to do our bit to help save the planet. Working out how to mod­ify our diets is one way we can do that,” the researchers con­cluded. ​“There are broad-brush con­cepts like reduc­ing our meat intake, par­tic­u­larly red meat, but our work also shows that big gains can be made from small changes, like cut­ting out sweets, or poten­tially just by switch­ing brands.”

• PLoS One
• Eurekalert