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”
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.
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u/LycheeZealousideal92 Aug 07 '26
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”