Impact of dairy and meat consumption on environment

Switching to a plant-based diet can help fight climate change, UN experts have said. A major report on land use and climate change says the West's high consumption of meat and dairy produce is fuelling global warming.

Meat and dairy, particularly from cows, have an outsize impact, with livestock accounting for around 14.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases each year. That’s roughly the same amount as the emissions from all the cars, trucks, airplanes, and ships combined in the world today.

In general, beef and lamb have the biggest climate footprint per gram of protein, while plant-based foods tend to have the smallest impact. Pork and chicken are somewhere in the middle.

Consumption and production trends

Changes in demand for meat may change the environmental impact of meat production by influencing how much meat is produced. It has been estimated that global meat consumption may double from 2000 to 2050, mostly as a consequence of the increasing world population, but also partly because of increased per capita meat consumption (with much of the per capita consumption increase occurring in the developing world).[17] Global production and consumption of poultry meat have recently been growing at more than 5 percent annually.

Grazing and land use

It takes seven pounds of feed to produce a pound of beef (live weight), more than three pounds for a pound of pork, and less than two pounds for a pound of chicken.

Free-range animal production requires land for grazing, which in some places has led to land-use change. According to FAO, "Ranching-induced deforestation is one of the main causes of loss of some unique plant and animal species in the tropical rainforests of Central and South America as well as carbon release in the atmosphere."

In some cases, ecosystem productivity may be increased due to grazing effects on nutrient cycling.

Water use

Almost one-third of the water used in the western United States goes to crops that feed cattle.[42] This is despite the claim that withdrawn surface water and groundwater used for crop irrigation in the US exceeds that for livestock by about a ratio of 60:1. This excessive use of river water distresses ecosystems and communities and drives scores of species of fish closer to extinction during times of drought.

Greenhouse gas emissions

Livestock contributes both directly and indirectly to climate change through the emissions of GHGs such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). Furthermore, the global livestock sector contributes about 75% of the agricultural N2O emissions

Should you become a vegan?

If you’re interested in taking the plunge, a vegan diet does have the smallest climate footprint around.

From a water perspective, using simple mathematics, it is much more efficient and cost-effective to eat plant foods than animal foods. From a greenhouse gas emissions perspective, it is without a doubt; significantly better for the environment to eat plant-based foods.

Alternate approach

If becoming vegan is too difficult for you then another approach would be to simply eat less meat and dairy, and more protein-rich plants like beans, legumes, nuts, and grains.

You can also try quitting meat and dairy for 5 days a week or you could go vegetarian: no meat, poultry, and fish, but dairy and eggs are allowed. The advantage here is that the rules are simple, and food manufacturers and restaurants are used to accommodating vegetarians.