In the past few decades, awareness of the need for sustainability has exponentially increased, yet our efforts are hardly sufficient. The fire of climate change is still burning literally and figuratively, but thankfully, any change, however small and seemingly insignificant, is still change. We still have made many lifestyle and economic changes to benefit our neglected Earth, and for this blog, I will be scratching the surface of some of these changes, and giving my opinion of whether these ideas are practical or merely once theoretical. To begin, I’m going to be examining a very widespread but controversial method.
Our world has formed several practices in recent history to help reduce waste and support ecological balance, with one of the oldest and most prominent strategies being veganism or vegetarianism. The term “veganism” became popularized in the 1940s, but the concept of a primarily plant-based diet dates back to ancient Indian and eastern Mediterranean civilizations and societies, with evidence of humans avoiding the consumption of animals dating back to over 4,000-5,000 years ago.
Pros of Plant-Based
There are obviously numerous advantages inherent in a plant-based diet for the environment. But just how dramatic are these advantages? In the US specifically, what our diets consist of is one of the largest contributors to our individual carbon footprints. US citizens average a release of 16 tons of carbon emissions each year, one of the highest average footprints out of any country. This may not seem like much, but if every person on Earth had similar or the same habits as Americans, we would need five Earths with five times the amount of resources we have remaining to sustain this lifestyle. Yet, a study from Oxford University identified going vegan can reduce our carbon footprint by up to 73%.
This considerable reduction is because of the production process of animal products that one would no longer be contributing to. The process is extremely carbon-intensive and carbon-producing; from deforestation to make room for animal pastures, to the production of millions of tons of animal feed, and to the immense waste and volume of methane gas generated by cows, pigs, chickens, and other farm animals. Some may argue that room for the growth of more plants and crops is just as wasteful and expensive, but a larger production of plants actually saves water, and a plant-based diet can reduce one’s water footprint by over 55%. It’s also lighter on one’s wallet, where vegan and vegetarian diets high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains can offer high savings in more developed countries. For full vegan, it can be around 21%–34% cheaper, about 27%–31% cheaper for vegetarianism, and about 14%-16% cheaper for flexitarianism (or the practice of occasionally eating meat, poultry, fish, and dairy).
All of these positives are due to the slight reduction in animal product manufacture, which is the most expensive, polluting, and detrimental process in all of food production
Cons of Plant-Based
The negatives associated with a plant-based diet are much more personal than environmental, which in a way is a positive. The most commonly known issue with veganism or vegetarianism is the obvious fact you’re not eating meat anymore. A food source that is rooted heavily in our ancestry and evolution is slowly becoming part of our downfall, yet we still need it. Avoiding meat often brings the deficiency of certain nutrients that are commonplace in meat, but hard to find elsewhere. Getting enough protein, iron, calcium, and Vitamin B12 is typically difficult for people who follow a plant-based diet. Pills and supplements are often required for people to avoid long-term health concerns when not eating animal products. Imitation meats like IMPOSSIBLE or Beyond Burger to supply protein are also highly processed and often environmentally detrimental, which is often unwanted and unwelcomed by vegans and vegetarians.
Conclusion
Overall, I think I’d have to give a plant-based diet a gold star. Food science and the knowledge of what we have been putting into our bodies have increased over recent years, and so has the popularity of plant-based diets, and now, we know nearly all of the advantages and disadvantages of this diet change, and the positives severely outweigh the negatives. Yet, our nature and cravings for that savory steak or chicken wing often blind us from the consequences of frequent animal consumption. That said, plant-based diets are very beneficial to us as individuals and as a collective, as long as we know the stipulations that come with avoiding the consumption of animal products, and how to remedy them.
Really cool article; I love your dissection of the civic implications of something as personal as diet. The thing that really sold me on this perspective was your use of statistics, to be honest– the arguments from multiple angles including carbon reduction and personal cost helped to build a more robust picture of plant-based alternatives. Also: I think your “Oxford”/Humane League study link is broken, likely because you included meta information like position in the link, which is accessible to your device but not mine. Delete the # pound sign and everything after it, and you should be good.
Your blog reminded me of a class I took at Penn State where we discussed plant-based diets. I remember the professor saying something like what you discussed in your blog. Many people don’t think about the size of the carbon footprint of processing meats, but when you run the numbers, it is significant. To add on to what you discussed in your blog, I would even say that Americans overconsume meats, while under consuming vegetables (a stable source of micronutrients that are vital for bodily processes).
Nice article, I liked the pro/con format you used because it made it a very straightforward yet informative read. I would agree that the typical American diet meat based diet getting their meat from CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) could definitely be optimized in terms of the carbon footprint by switching to a plant based diet. However, I have to raise a counterpoint that depending on which crops you consume and when, the carbon savings might not be as high as you think they are. For example, if you’re living in Pennsylvania eating something like pineapples that don’t really grow in temperate climates, or an out of season crop like asparagus (anytime but spring), you’re probably relying on that crop being flown in from across the country or even across the world, which is very energy intensive. In these cases, meat might not be that much worse, if not better. Additionally, in certain areas, the land is not well suited to support many food crops, whether due to issues with soil or climate. But in some of these areas, cattle can graze sustainably on the land and convert inedible (to humans) grasses into a local food supply. Outside of these cases though, you’re definitely right that eating more plants is generally a good thing!
Really well-written article! I loved the pictures, structure, and tone you used throughout the piece. I am happy that you touched on the cons of plant-based diets as well as the pros because I think it is important to look at this debate from both lenses. I definitely cannot argue with the facts. On paper, plant-based diets are superior in terms of environmental benefits. But as you pointed out in your cons, veganism and vegetarianism tend to be adversarial to the body, especially since we evolved in a meat-dependent lifestyle. I know that there are protein supplements, but they do not offer the same benefits as meat, and I would worry that the human body would fail to receive all of its necessary nutrients if someone was to go fully vegan. This is such interesting topic, and I can’t wait to learn and read more in the upcoming weeks!