According to scientists and writers, politicians should encourage change to a plant diet if they’re serious about saving the planet.
Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK’s business secretary, has suggested a “full plant-based diet” as a way to combat climate change, saying lifestyle changes to healthy food are essential to reach the government’s new emissions target of 78% below 1990 levels by 2035.
Could a plant-based diet make a real difference? Government policy would also be necessary along with changing the way we eat, according to experts. Scientists and writers argue that politicians must incentivize dietary changes if they are serious about them.
Dietary reductions or eliminations of meat differ according to academic literature. Vegetarianism would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by only about 3% per person, according to some studies. Many studies have shown that halving meat consumption reduces emissions by 20-30%.
“It is important to emphasize the fact that emissions are not the only measure of sustainability. It is also important to examine how farming systems affect carbon sequestration, soil acidification, water quality, and broader ecological functions,” stated Matthew Harrison, team leader at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture.
The use of farming systems that replace livestock is also a requirement, he said.
George Monbiot, an environmental campaigner, says scientists measure veganism differently. Two completely different ways of analyzing a diet’s carbon footprint are possible: one looks at carbon released during food production – the carbon current account. The other one is ‘carbon capital account,’ which means that this food will have a lower carbon burden than another food,” he said.
“When you produce meat, for instance, what might you do with the land if you took the meat away? It would be better to grow trees in that place.”
We eat, as well as our transport habits, is a big issue, according to Monbiot. “It’s a lot harder than one might think to change diet on an individual basis when you compare it to what needs to be done by governments. The impact of that is enormous,” he said.
“There is more chance of success if the government changes the food system, but we should still work to change our diets even in the absence of government action.”
One of the most comprehensive analyses of the environmental damage resulting from farming was released in 2018 and found there is one single most significant way to reduce your environmental impact: avoiding meat and dairy products. In the study, researchers concluded that we could reduce global farmland use by more than 75% without meat and dairy consumption – an area the size of the US, China, Europe, and Australia combined – while still feeding the world.
“We estimate that the food system is responsible for about a third of all greenhouse gas emissions globally,” said Dr. Marco Springmann, senior researcher at the University of Oxford.
He explained that the overwhelming majority of emissions come from foods such as beef and dairy, so progress is difficult without reducing emissions from those products. A cow’s methane emissions cannot be fixed technically, according to him.
“You can change the composition of feed, but that doesn’t change the animal, and its need to consume a lot of feed product,” he said. He believes the government needs to offer price incentives for sustainable products, making beef and dairy more expensive.
According to Frank Mitloehner, professor and air quality extension specialist at the University of California at Davis, the focus on the individual is a distraction from the need for policy changes. “Going vegan for two years can save as much as flying from Europe to the US for one year,” he said.
“Changing policy is the only way we can reduce carbon emissions as effectively as possible. We need to have a cost for carbon that is appropriate. We need to incentivize those who can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to do so,” he said.
His number one recommendation is to “go out and vote… That should be number one.”.
“We cannot address climate change with silver bullets, said Martin Heller of the University of Michigan. Nothing in isolation will be ‘enough’.”
Researchers conclude that even if agriculture was improved by 2050 at an expected growth rate, feeding an anticipated population would exhaust “all emissions allowable within 2C”.
A change in diet is necessary, he said. “That certainly isn’t implying that a change in diet – or even going vegan – will save the planet. The diet shifts must also come from government, corporations, and every other sector.” He continued.
“Likewise, it would probably be naive to assume that people will change their behaviors just because it benefits the environment. Restaurant and food service industries must change as a result of directed policy,” he said.
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