Go meatless to reduce global warming

October 22, 12:33 PMSeattle Vegan ExaminerVirginia Messina, MPH, RD

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Feed plant foods to humans, not animals, to reduce global
warming.

Animal agriculture is even worse for global warming than previously believed. That’s the conclusion of two environmental specialists associated with the World Bank Group.

Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang took a critical look at the report Livestock’s Long Shadow, produced in 2006 by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). They found that the report greatly underestimated the effects of animal food production on global warming. Their conclusions have just been published in the November/December issue of Worldwatch Institute’s newsletter.

The earlier FAO report suggested that
18 percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, camels, horses, pigs, and poultry. Goodland and Anhang say that these food animals actually account for 51 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Their analysis of the data show a number of ways in which effects of greenhouse gas emissions were underestimated by the FAO. For example:

• The FAO report used the wrong figures for calculating the capacity of greenhouse gases to trap heat in the atmosphere.
• The FAO report was based on numbers of animals being raised for food in 2002. Since then, the number of animals (or more correctly, the “amount” of animals by weight) has increased by 12 percent.
• Even the 2002 numbers used appear to have been wrong. The FAO report said that 21.7 billion animals were raised for food that year, but other sources say that the number was closer to 50 billion.
• Greenhouse gases from fish farming were not included in the report.
• The FAO report did not include greenhouse gases attributable to production, packaging or disposal of byproducts, like leather.

Environmental scientists have long known that feeding plant foods to farmed animals rather than directly to humans is inefficient and an important cause of global warming. This updated analysis makes it clear that the future of the planet is in serious jeopardy unless those in developed countries make some changes to their diets. Replacing animal foods with plant products is a fast and effective way to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Goodland and Anhang called on food manufacturers to begin switching their focus away from animal foods in favor of producing more meat and dairy analogs. But in the meantime, consumers can make changes right now by choosing meat and dairy analogs that are already on the market. These include milks made from soy, rice, and almonds, and a variety of meat and cheese replacements made from plant proteins. Minimally processed foods like grains and beans are great choices, too.

Taking steps away from meat, dairy and eggs toward a diet based on plant foods is more important than ever. The very future of the planet depends on it.

Read the World Watch report here and check out these ideas for replacing dairy, eggs and meat in your diet.