Vegetarians who rely on the corporate food chain cause far more climate pollution than meat eaters

Wednesday, December 23, 2015 by: Daniel Barker
Tags: vegetarian diet, global warming, ecological footprint

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(NaturalNews) A lot of people are under the mistaken impression that not eating meat is good for the environment. That's not necessarily the case, according to a new study conducted by a team of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.

The conclusions contained in the report, which was published in the journal Environment Systems and Decisions, run counter to the common belief that reducing meat intake in one's diet helps to curb climate change.

The authors of the study calculated the environmental impact of various foods based on "energy cost, water use and emissions." The researchers found that eating lettuce is more than "three times worse" than eating bacon, in terms of environmental impact per calorie.

From The Independent:

"Researchers did not argue against the idea people should be eating less meat, or the fact that livestock contributes to an enormous proportion of global emissions – up to 51 per cent according to some studies.

"But they found that eating only the recommended 'healthier' foods prescribed in recent advice from the US Department of Agriculture increased a person's impact on the environment across all three factors – even when overall calorie intake was reduced."

The team of experts took into account such factors as the growing, transportation and storing of food – all of which have an environmental cost.

Paul Fischbeck, one of the co-authors of the study, said:

"Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken."

If people simply switch to a vegetarian diet while maintaining the same caloric intake, their food-related energy use will increase 43 per cent, with an accompanying 16 per cent rise in water use and 11 per cent in emissions.

Even if people stop eating meat while modifying their overall caloric intake to meet USDA recommendations, "their environmental impact would increase across energy use (38 per cent), water (10 per cent) and emissions (6 per cent)."

Michelle Tom, another co-author and member of the research team, said:

"What is good for us health-wise isn't always what's best for the environment. That's important for public officials to know and for them to be cognisant of these trade-offs as they develop or continue to develop dietary guidelines in the future."

It's also important to consider that the research focused on commercially-grown foods which are also being shipped and stored.

Growing your own food – especially if you are careful about water waste and other factors – will have far less environmental impact than buying it from the corporate food chain.

Not only is it more efficient to grow your own food, but you will literally reap the benefits of having fresh produce that is free of chemical fertilizers, GMOs and other toxins.

And not only will your food be more healthy, but it will taste better because you can harvest at the optimal time in terms of ripeness.

If you are interested in starting to grow your own organic produce, the Food Rising Mini-Farm Grow Box system developed by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, offers a practical and simple approach that can be used almost anywhere.

This revolutionary growing system requires no electricity and is based on the concept of "non-circulating hydroponics," a method initially developed by Professor Bernard Kratky at the University of Hawaii in Hilo.

Health Ranger Mike Adams has modernized the concept and developed a system, the key components of which can either be purchased or 3D printed free of charge, using the downloadable plans found on the FoodRising.org website.

The Food Rising system is a great way to begin growing and eating healthy foods, without the environmental impact and questionable growing methods associated with the commercial food industry.

Sources:

Independent.co.uk

Link.Springer.com

FoodRising.org