Climate Count-Up: #4 Plant-rich diets

Taking a look at Project Drawdown’s solutions to climate change 

Veganism, a fringe movement until recently, is rapidly growing in popularity. There are environmental, ethical, and health-related reasons for eating a more plant-based diet. Strict vegans abstain from all animal products, including meat, seafood, dairy, and eggs, whereas those on plant-based diets focus on foods derived from plants and limit or mainly abstain from animal products, often as a transition to a vegan diet. Both diets are rich in vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, legumes, and beans. Is the recent surge in veganism just a fad? Is this movement destined to lose popularity over time, or does it represent an understanding of the impact individual food choices can have on both the health of ourselves and our planet? 

Following a vegan diet is becoming largely accepted as the single most impactful change an individual can make to reduce their carbon footprint and lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In fact, if the world’s population transitioned to plant-based diets, over the next 30 years, food-related emissions could be reduced by up to 70 percent.  

A meat-centric diet accounts for one fifth of global GHG emissions. These emissions come from many sources, including emissions directly from cattle and other farm animals, agricultural land use, associated energy consumption, and manure and fertilizers. In fact, if cattle alone were to comprise a nation, they would be the third biggest GHG emitters on our planet. The meat and dairy industries provide only 18 percent of global calories while using over 80 percent of the world’s farmlands. By switching to a plant-based diet, global farmland use could be cut by more than 75 percent, freeing up an area of arable land the size of USA, China, Australia, and all of the European Union combined.  

The meat and dairy industries are also huge consumers of fresh water, a dwindling commodity. While humans use 5.2 billion gallons of fresh water daily, cows drink 45 billion gallons. A single pound of beef requires close to 2500 gallons of water to produce, a pound of eggs requires 477 gallons, a pound of cheese requires over 900 gallons, and a gallon of cow’s milk requires 1000 gallons. Much of this polluted water runs off into waterways, where it has become the leading cause of all water pollution. A person would need to skip all showers for half a year to save the equivalent amount of water used to produce a single one-pound beef burger. In contrast, growing plants for direct human consumption requires significantly less water. Soy requires around 200 gallons of water per pound, and many vegan milks such as oat milk only require 48 gallons of water. Almond milk, which has come under criticism lately for excessive water use, uses just over half as much water as dairy milk.  

The environmental reasons for switching to a vegan diet are irrefutable but there are some uncertainties about the health benefits. However, it is becoming apparently clear that meat and dairy are weakening our health and leading to premature death. Many health experts are calling meat “the new tobacco.” Many studies have found vegan diets to be significantly higher in fiber, antioxidants, potassium, magnesium, folate, and vitamins A, C, and E—in addition to other essential macro and micronutrients. Eating a plant-based diet can prevent one of the most pressing health issues: obesity. For diabetics, plant-based diets have been found to be effective at weight management and can improve insulin sensitivity. Going vegan has been shown to decrease risk of developing Type 2 diabetes as well, with a 40 to 60 percent higher prevalence of diabetes among people who consume meat. Meat, especially red meat, is high in saturated fats, which raises cholesterol and increases the risk of heart disease through the developments of arterial plaques. These plaques can also affect the flow of blood through the body. Eating a lot of meat, for example, can contribute to erectile dysfunction through the impediment of blood flow.  

Going plant-based can seriously combat cancer. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, processed meats are carcinogenic and red meats are likely carcinogenic. Many recent studies have found that vegans have a 15 percent lower risk of developing or dying from cancer. The American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine found that plant-based diets can even lead to significantly better sleep. A study by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine found that vegetarian men lived ten years longer than non-vegetarian men and that the life expectancy increased similarly by six years for vegetarian women. It has been calculated that a global switch to veganism would lead to a reduction in all global mortality of around ten percent, or eight million lives by 2050.  

In addition to slashing GHG emissions and contributing to lowering global death rates, switching to plant-based diets could save the world trillions of dollars. Conservative estimates put the economic benefits of these dietary changes at around US $700-$1000 billion per year based on savings from healthcare and lost working days. The economic value that most societies place on lower mortality risks could amount to nine to thirteen percent of the global GDP, the equivalent of around US $20-30 trillion. Additionally, there are possible US $570 billion economic benefits from reduced GHG emissions. Finally, a global shift to plant-based diets could lead to US $1.5 trillion saved by avoiding climate-related damages.  

Switching to a vegan diet is one very significant change that an individual can make to improve both their personal health and the health of the planet. Despite the perceived challenge of ensuring all of your dietary needs are met when switching to a plant-based diet, the benefits to the environment as well as your health are massive. In addition to improving your overall health, going vegan is one of the easiest and most impactful things you can do as an individual to reduce your global footprint.