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I'm pretty disappointed in the numbers they chose for a vegetarian diet. It feels to me as if they actively went ahead and picked to lowest values they could fi

I'm pretty disappointed in the numbers they chose for a vegetarian diet. It feels to me as if they actively went ahead and picked to lowest values they could find in their source. (Btw the source itself is a good read imo: http://www.drawdown.org/solutions/food/plant-rich-diet http://www.drawdown.org/solutions/food/plant-rich-diet) You could argue that people are not willing to go vegetarian or even vegan - but at least level the numbers when comparing it with other solutions: If everyone would go vegetarian, their source states 132 gigatons of CO2 reductions. I also liked this quote from the report: > As Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh has said, making the transition to a plant-based diet may be the most effective way an individual can stop climate change.

beambot 9y ago
Better, balanced diets also create positive feedback loops in the healthcare equation too -- especially for low income homes. Like many things, it is a human psychology and behavioral challenge...
- npsimons 9y ago
  > Better, balanced diets also create positive feedback loops in the healthcare equation too You can still eat your way to obesity on a vegan diet - oreos are vegan, after all. Considering that the obesity epidemic is currently the number one driver for health care costs in USA, and it's only expected to get worse (http://dailybruin.com/2011/10/26/obesity_has_become_an_oversized_problem_in_the_u-s/ http://dailybruin.com/2011/10/26/obesity_has_become_an_overs...), we could probably vastly reduce costs (and therefore emissions) by just eating a little less, vegan or no. Edit: why the downvotes?
  - beambot 9y ago
    Best rules I ever saw: (1) Eat "food", not processed crap; (2) not too much; (3) mostly plants.
comicjk 9y ago
All due respect to the Zen master, but taking fewer flights, driving less, and living in a smaller and better insulated house, or having fewer kids, will all be more effective than vegetarianism for the average American. A single transatlantic trip emits more CO2 than eating meat for a year. See this paper on effective CO2 reductions: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541 http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541 I speak without bias on the subject, since I am actually a vegetarian myself. Going by the numbers, it's moderately effective, but not the most effective.

beambot 9y ago

Better, balanced diets also create positive feedback loops in the healthcare equation too -- especially for low income homes. Like many things, it is a human psychology and behavioral challenge...

npsimons 9y ago
> Better, balanced diets also create positive feedback loops in the healthcare equation too You can still eat your way to obesity on a vegan diet - oreos are vegan, after all. Considering that the obesity epidemic is currently the number one driver for health care costs in USA, and it's only expected to get worse (http://dailybruin.com/2011/10/26/obesity_has_become_an_oversized_problem_in_the_u-s/ http://dailybruin.com/2011/10/26/obesity_has_become_an_overs...), we could probably vastly reduce costs (and therefore emissions) by just eating a little less, vegan or no. Edit: why the downvotes?
- beambot 9y ago
  Best rules I ever saw: (1) Eat "food", not processed crap; (2) not too much; (3) mostly plants.

comicjk 9y ago

All due respect to the Zen master, but taking fewer flights, driving less, and living in a smaller and better insulated house, or having fewer kids, will all be more effective than vegetarianism for the average American. A single transatlantic trip emits more CO2 than eating meat for a year. See this paper on effective CO2 reductions: http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541 http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa7541 I speak without bias on the subject, since I am actually a vegetarian myself. Going by the numbers, it's moderately effective, but not the most effective.