Burlington: Shifting half of the diet to vegetables could help reduce climate change, a new study suggests.
A study published in the journal Nature Communications suggests that replacing half of the meat and dairy diet with plant-based foods could reduce carbon emissions by 31 percent over the next 27 years.
Meat-heavy diets pose risks to our health as well as our planet. Large-scale livestock farming degrades our environment and produces vast amounts of greenhouse gases.
A 2021 study by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign found that meat and dairy accounted for 57 percent of food-related greenhouse gas emissions.
This new research agrees with previous studies, showing that making 50 percent of the diet vegetables will reduce agriculture and land use.
Study co-author Eva Wollenberg of the University of Vermont said: “To reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, we need to reduce meat consumption, and this research shows us how to do that.” Is.
He said that plant-based meat is not just a new diet, but an important opportunity to achieve global health and biodiversity goals, along with achieving food security and climate goals.
