Men’s meat-heavy diets cause 40% more climate emissions than women’s, study finds

“These diets could be better for your bank balance as well as your health and the health of the planet.”

— Study Author, Marco Springmann, the University of Oxford

November 22, 2021

The gist:

It’s not just the calories that count, meat-heavy diets—apparently consumed more by men—are emission heavy as well.

Not surprisingly, both studies analyzed here confirm previous work that healthy diets are also lower-emission diets. What surprised the scientists was that vegan, vegetarian + flexitarian diets are also better for our bottom lines.

The faxx:

• The journal Plos One analysed (sic) the emissions linked to more than 3,200 specific food items and examined the diets of 212 British people found that animal products were responsible for almost half of the average diet’s greenhouse gas emissions: 31% from meat and 14% from dairy.

• Food production causes 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, and previous studies have shown that meat-eating in rich countries must be sharply reduced in order to tackle the climate crisis, largely caused by the methane and deforestation associated with cattle.

• In western countries, vegan and vegetarian diets were about a third cheaper to buy than regular diets.

• Non-vegetarian diets created 59% more emissions than vegetarian diets.

• Men’s diets had 41% more emissions, mainly due to eating more meat and to more drinks.

  Link to the Guardian post here.