LONDON: The food we eat has a massive impact on our planet. Agriculture occupies half of the Earth’s habitable land, destroys forests and other ecosystems, and produces a quarter of the world’s agriculture. Emissions of greenhouse gases. Meat and dairy products specifically account for about 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
So changing what we eat can help reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable agriculture. But there are several “climate-friendly” diets to choose from. The best known are the completely plant-based vegan diet, the vegetarian diet, which also allows eggs and dairy, and the pescetarian diet, which also allows shellfish.
There are also “flexitarian” diets, in which three quarters of meat and dairy are replaced by plant-based foods, or the Mediterranean diet, which allows moderate amounts of poultry, pork, lamb and beef. Deciding which diet to choose is not as easy as you might hope.
Let’s start with a new fad: The climactic diet. One version was created by the nonprofit Climates Network, which says this diet is healthy, climate-friendly, and nature-friendly.
According to advertising, “a simple change in diet can save a ton of CO2 equivalents per person per year” (“equivalents” just means that methane and other greenhouse gases are taken into account along with carbon dioxide ).
Sounds great, but the diet still allows you to eat. meat and other high-emitting foods such as pork, poultry, fish, dairy products and eggs. So this is just a newer version of the “weather carnivore” diet, except that followers are encouraged to switch as much red meat (beef, lamb, pork, veal, and venison) to other meats as possible. fish.
However, the diet encourages you to reduce meat consumption overall and to choose local, high-welfare meat when possible, avoiding food waste and choosing local foods that are in season.
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