this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2023
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[–] empireOfLove@lemmy.one 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Don't just single out meat. All of industrialized agriculture is massively carbon and energy intensive and built on gradual topsoil depletion.

[–] norawibb@sh.itjust.works 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Meat industry is responsible for most of the farmland. If everyone was vegan we could reduce the amount of farmland we use by like 70%. Thermodynamics says its better to eat plants instead of feeding them to animals and eating animals.

[–] power@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Biology teachers when them teaching the 10 percent law for ecological efficiency to their class 5 years ago is actually useful

[–] usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml 8 points 1 year ago

Transitioning to plant-based diets (PBDs) has the potential to reduce diet-related land use by 76%, diet-related greenhouse gas emissions by 49%, eutrophication by 49%, and green and blue water use by 21% and 14%, respectively, whilst garnering substantial health co-benefits

[...]

Plant-based foods have a significantly smaller footprint on the environment than animal-based foods. Even the least sustainable vegetables and cereals cause less environmental harm than the lowest impact meat and dairy products [9].

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/8/1614/htm

If I source my beef or lamb from low-impact producers, could they have a lower footprint than plant-based alternatives? The evidence suggests, no: plant-based foods emit fewer greenhouse gases than meat and dairy, regardless of how they are produced.

[…]

Plant-based protein sources – tofu, beans, peas and nuts – have the lowest carbon footprint. This is certainly true when you compare average emissions. But it’s still true when you compare the extremes: there’s not much overlap in emissions between the worst producers of plant proteins, and the best producers of meat and dairy.

https://ourworldindata.org/less-meat-or-sustainable-meat