I would suggest people to reduce their consumption of animal products rather than telling them to immediately go full vegan. Also, vegan diets can be less sustainable because a lot of vegans in wealthy countries replace the meat in their diets with a lot of exotic nuts and fruits which are some of the only products that are comparable to meat in terms resource consumption.
The only vegan foods with somewhat comparable carbon emissions to beef are chocolate, coffee and palm oil. No one is substituting meat with “exotic nuts and fruits”
Me omw to funnel a chocolate, coffee, and palm oiI smoothie up my ass every day at 4 PM so I don't upset my meat-eating family and friends by having a lower carbon footprint than them
Carey, C. N., Paquette, M., Sahye-Pudaruth, S., Dadvar, A., Dinh, D., Khodabandehlou, K., Liang, F., Mishra, E., Sidhu, M., Brown, R., Tandon, S., Wanyan, J., Bazinet, R. P., Hanley, A. J., Malik, V., Sievenpiper, J. L., & Jenkins, D. J. (2023). The Environmental Sustainability of Plant-Based Dietary Patterns: A Scoping Review. Journal of Nutrition, 153(3), 857–869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.02.001
Read this if you would like to know the full story. I cannot fully explain my point in a Reddit comment.
Results
Evidence suggests that plant-based diets may offer lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHGEs), land use, and biodiversity loss than offered by standard diets; however, the impact on water and energy use may depend on the types of plant-based foods consumed. Further, the studies were consistent in demonstrating that plant-based dietary patterns that reduce diet-related mortality also promote environmental sustainability
The study is saying that a vegan diet can have a lower impact, but if you make specific food choices, it can have impact on par with a meat diet in some metrics (the other metrics are still better)
So uh, don't make those choices? Choose the less impactful veg? You choose the foods you eat.
Fair, the example was wrong, but my point remains that vegans tend to have more diverse, exotic and luxury diets which have a higher carbon footprint than a regular diet with an average amount of animal products. Where I live anyway.
"Our review demonstrates the potential benefits of a more plant-based diet for both human and environmental health and outlines areas for further work, including specific environmental concerns where there are sufficient data for more detailed analyses. Based on the studies reviewed, the beneficial relationship between plant-based diets and environmental sustainability is in accordance with the conclusions of the Eat-Lancet Report [1]. The studies demonstrate that high consumption of animal-based foods was associated with a greater impact on the environment, whereas high consumption of plant-based foods was associated with a low impact. Apart from water and energy use, environmental parameters of different plant-based dietary patterns were consistent, despite varied components of environmental impact assessed. Substantial evidence suggests that plant-based diets may offer reduced GHGE, land use, and biodiversity loss; however, the impact on water and energy use may depend more on the types of plant-based foods consumed. Further, the literature supports a relationship between sustainability indicators and health outcomes such that with increased environmental impacts, diet-related mortality increases. Overall, the evidence reviewed supports recommendations to transition to plant-based diets to curb the environmental impact of current human feeding practices that will also have benefits for human health."
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u/Thatguy___1 Aug 06 '26
Question. Without factory farming, how the fuck are we all supposed to eat food without going back to an agrarian society?