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Possible Dupe? Just searching "vegan" I see this 4 times in the last few days. I am really curious what exactly "high meat" means. I am very curious since the

Possible Dupe? Just searching "vegan" I see this 4 times in the last few days. I am really curious what exactly "high meat" means. I am very curious since the difference between "low meat" and vegetarian is minimal at best and even between low and vegan is still not that drastic. I would also really like to see how the dietary enviromental impact relates to a persons entire environmental impact (as in, ok we see a 30% impact change based on dietary impact but how much of a change is that on a personal level really?) There are just a lot of information missing here that would paint much better (or not better depending on what you are trying to argue) picture. I am also curious how this changes based on where you live and how far your food has to travel to get to you within the same country. Like rural vs urban in the US.

myshpa 3y ago
> what exactly "high meat" means From the study: high meat-eaters (≥100 g total meat consumed per day) https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00795-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00795-w > I am also curious how this changes based on where you live and how far your food has to travel to get to you within the same country. Like rural vs urban in the US. https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local ... the results of a study which looked at the footprint of diets across the EU. Food transport was responsible for only 6% of emissions, whilst dairy, meat and eggs accounted for 83%. Many of the foods ... are ... transported by boat – avocados and almonds are prime examples. Shipping one kilogram of avocados from Mexico to the United Kingdom would generate 0.21kg CO2eq in transport emissions. This is only around 8% of avocados’ total footprint. Even when shipped at great distances, its emissions are much less than locally-produced animal products. Transport is a small contributor to emissions. For most food products, it accounts for less than 10%, and it’s much smaller for the largest GHG emitters. In beef from beef herds, it’s 0.5%.
- jahewson 3y ago
  > Many of the foods ... are ... transported by boat – avocados and almonds are prime examples. Transatlantic fresh produce is generally air freight.
  - myshpa 3y ago
    From the article: Many believe that air-freight is more common than it actually is. Very little food is air-freighted; it accounts for only 0.16% of food miles.9 But for the few products which are transported by air, the emissions can be very high: it emits 50 times more CO2eq than boat per tonne kilometer.10
- nerdjon 3y ago
  So maybe the study answers it but that is a lot to read through for one answer, but my big question that you did not quote is still. > I would also really like to see how the dietary enviromental impact relates to a persons entire environmental impact (as in, ok we see a 30% impact change based on dietary impact but how much of a change is that on a personal level really?) That is information I am struggling to actually find. 30% of one of impacts is a decent amount but I also don't own a car. How much of my entire environmental impact is my diet? They also seem to be grouping all meat together. Like Beef and Chicken. According to https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food there is a massive difference between the impact of Chicken vs Beef. I searched that report for chicken (never came up) and Poultry (came up twice). So I am very curious how they are actually coming to these numbers when all of the types of meet vary wildly in their impact.
  - casualscience 3y ago
    > So maybe the study answers it but that is a lot to read through for one answer, but my big question that you did not quote is still. I don't know whether there is an official answer, but if you look at your link there, it says, e.g. 1 kilo of poultry creates 10 kilos of CO2. The average american produces 14k Kilos of CO2/yr, so if you ate a kilo of chicken a day, you're looking at about 3k Kilos of CO2, or something like 20% of your carbon. If you eat a kilo of beef it's like 250% of the average carbon footprint a year. That is a LOT of meat, but overall, you can guesstimate this is like 10-20% of your carbon footprint if you eat a lot of chicken, and maybe the bulk of it if you eat a lot of red meat. It seems like chicken is better than fish is wayyy better than red meat.
    - myshpa 3y ago
      > It seems like chicken is better than fish is wayyy better than red meat. You're right, but only if you count carbon footprint. You also have to count in destroyed/damaged/polluted ecosystems, elimination of wildlife, deforestation, energy, etc. etc. if you WANT to have a complete picture. For CO2 numbers, you can see the original study Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325532198_Reducing_food%27s_environmental_impacts_through_producers_and_consumers https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325532198_Reducing_... or the graph listing more kinds of meats here: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding...
- rascul 3y ago
  > > what exactly "high meat" means > From the study: high meat-eaters (≥100 g total meat consumed per day) For reference, that's about one quarter pounder from McDonald's.

myshpa 3y ago

> what exactly "high meat" means From the study: high meat-eaters (≥100 g total meat consumed per day) https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00795-w https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-023-00795-w > I am also curious how this changes based on where you live and how far your food has to travel to get to you within the same country. Like rural vs urban in the US. https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local https://ourworldindata.org/food-choice-vs-eating-local You want to reduce the carbon footprint of your food? Focus on what you eat, not whether your food is local ... the results of a study which looked at the footprint of diets across the EU. Food transport was responsible for only 6% of emissions, whilst dairy, meat and eggs accounted for 83%. Many of the foods ... are ... transported by boat – avocados and almonds are prime examples. Shipping one kilogram of avocados from Mexico to the United Kingdom would generate 0.21kg CO2eq in transport emissions. This is only around 8% of avocados’ total footprint. Even when shipped at great distances, its emissions are much less than locally-produced animal products. Transport is a small contributor to emissions. For most food products, it accounts for less than 10%, and it’s much smaller for the largest GHG emitters. In beef from beef herds, it’s 0.5%.

jahewson 3y ago
> Many of the foods ... are ... transported by boat – avocados and almonds are prime examples. Transatlantic fresh produce is generally air freight.
- myshpa 3y ago
  From the article: Many believe that air-freight is more common than it actually is. Very little food is air-freighted; it accounts for only 0.16% of food miles.9 But for the few products which are transported by air, the emissions can be very high: it emits 50 times more CO2eq than boat per tonne kilometer.10
nerdjon 3y ago
So maybe the study answers it but that is a lot to read through for one answer, but my big question that you did not quote is still. > I would also really like to see how the dietary enviromental impact relates to a persons entire environmental impact (as in, ok we see a 30% impact change based on dietary impact but how much of a change is that on a personal level really?) That is information I am struggling to actually find. 30% of one of impacts is a decent amount but I also don't own a car. How much of my entire environmental impact is my diet? They also seem to be grouping all meat together. Like Beef and Chicken. According to https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food there is a massive difference between the impact of Chicken vs Beef. I searched that report for chicken (never came up) and Poultry (came up twice). So I am very curious how they are actually coming to these numbers when all of the types of meet vary wildly in their impact.
- casualscience 3y ago
  > So maybe the study answers it but that is a lot to read through for one answer, but my big question that you did not quote is still. I don't know whether there is an official answer, but if you look at your link there, it says, e.g. 1 kilo of poultry creates 10 kilos of CO2. The average american produces 14k Kilos of CO2/yr, so if you ate a kilo of chicken a day, you're looking at about 3k Kilos of CO2, or something like 20% of your carbon. If you eat a kilo of beef it's like 250% of the average carbon footprint a year. That is a LOT of meat, but overall, you can guesstimate this is like 10-20% of your carbon footprint if you eat a lot of chicken, and maybe the bulk of it if you eat a lot of red meat. It seems like chicken is better than fish is wayyy better than red meat.
  - myshpa 3y ago
    > It seems like chicken is better than fish is wayyy better than red meat. You're right, but only if you count carbon footprint. You also have to count in destroyed/damaged/polluted ecosystems, elimination of wildlife, deforestation, energy, etc. etc. if you WANT to have a complete picture. For CO2 numbers, you can see the original study Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325532198_Reducing_food%27s_environmental_impacts_through_producers_and_consumers https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325532198_Reducing_... or the graph listing more kinds of meats here: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding...
rascul 3y ago
> > what exactly "high meat" means > From the study: high meat-eaters (≥100 g total meat consumed per day) For reference, that's about one quarter pounder from McDonald's.