Change What You Eat, Change The World

Welcome to Week 2 of the plant forward challenge!

While there are some pretty amazing health benefits that come with eating plant based, one of the most overlooked impacts is emissions reduction. More important than paper straws or cold showers, modifying your diet is the single most effective way to make an individual impact. 

You may find yourself asking, "How much of a difference can I actually make?" 

The answer? A lot. 

Livestock accounts for 14% of all greenhouse gas emissions. It sounds like a low percentage until you hear that this is roughly equal to the emissions of all cars, trucks, planes, and ships on the planet combined.

From deforestation to make room for factory farms to the water and grain consumed by cattle and sheep, it takes an enormous amount of resources to get meat from the farm to your plate.

Eschel et al. 2014 estimated that producing beef requires 28 times more land, 6 times more fertilizer and 11 times more water than producing pork or chicken.

A single serving of beef produces 330 grams of carbon emissions. If you switch to chicken, that number goes down to 52 grams; and say you chose to skip the meat entirely? Lentils produce only 2 grams of carbon emissions per serving. 

Now, if you were to say that the chances of getting everyone to adopt a purely plant based diet were next to nothing, I'd have to agree with you. But the chances of getting everyone to consider reducing their consumption? A lot better.

We don’t all have to be vegans, or even vegetarians, we just have to make more conscious decisions about our food. 

If we were all to adopt a Mediterranean diet (mostly comprised of whole grain foods, plant oils, fruits and vegetables, a small amount of fish and poultry, and very sparing consumption of red meat and dairy) we could reduce 15% of global warming pollution by 2050. It sounds like it’s worth a shot to me. 

Source: https://www.forbes.co