When my sister said she was going vegan, I thought she was crazy; She claimed she could save the environment! However, I know now that although she can't do it on her own, my sister is playing a part in helping the earth. According to "New Scientist," "If you stop eating meat, your food-related carbon footprint could plummet to less than half of what it was." The article also says that up to 1/4 of human greenhouse gas emission is the result of food production.  The amount your carbon footprint would decrease, though, depends on what degree of vegetarianism you are at. Just reducing the amount of meat you eat by half could take 1/3 off of your emissions. Veganism is seemingly the diet best for the environment, though, as while pescatarians have 2.5% less emissions than vegetarians, vegans have 25% less! Therefore if we all took on veganism, or at least ate a bit less meat, we could help the planet. Will you say no to the steak in turn for a smaller carbon footprin t and a cooler planet? ( https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn … your-food/)

I agree Carly. Being vegan or vegetarian would definitely decrease the amount of carbon we release based off of our eating habits. I found an interesting chart online at http://timeforchange.org/eat-less-meat- … on-of-food I was shocked by the fact that 1 kg of beef takes almost 13.3 kg of CO2 emissions to make. If everyone were to eat less meat our carbon footprints would be cut down significantly and the earth would definitely benefit from it.

I partially agree Carly. Veganism is a big contribution to a decrease in greenhouse emissions. Production of meat plays a big role in carbon emissions. Vegetables are good and could are a healthy diet, but at the same time, humans aren't completely designed to be herbivorous. It is a possibility, but worldwide veganism seems a little farfetched.

I had no idea that the production of food contributed so much to the emission of human greenhouse gasses. It now makes sense to me why so many people are going vegan nowadays. It seems like it is a really hard switch to make, especially if you are going from a meat eater to vegan as opposed to vegetarian to vegan. However, cutting down your own emissions by 1/3 is a huge deal, and with the recent upward trend of switching to a vegan diet (See link below), going vegan may not be such a bad idea.

https://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=vegan

While I see your point, it is necessary to understand that many fruits and vegetables are resource based. Lettuce, for example, produces more greenhouse gas emissions (3x more!) than bacon does. In fact, the seafood and veggie based diet recommended by the USDA would raise gases by 38% compared to the typical meat heavy diet. Not all produce has the same carbon footprint. It is necessary to understand the difficulties that come with growing, harvesting, and transporting certain fruits/veggies. There are differences in various forms of the vegan/vegetarian diets, and it is crucial to do your research to understand which is truly best for the environment. If you decrease your calorie intake from the typical high calorie American diet, it reduces your carbon footprint by 9%. On the other hand, if you adjust the foods eaten to incorporate USDA standards but keep calories the same, you actually increase your greenhouse gas emissions by 11%. If you shift food sources AND decrease calorie intake, it actually increases gas emissions by 38%. Not all foods are produced and used by  your body equally.

Sources: http://time.com/money/4154705/vegetaria … vironment/
   http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic … acon-does/
   http://www.sciencealert.com/vegetarian- … tudy-finds

I definitely agree. In the future, it is my goal to become a vegan. I want to make this transition to not only become more environmentally sustainable, but to end my connection with the livestock industry. One of the many benefits about veganism that you mentioned is that it is extremely sustainable. Compared to meat and/or dairy eaters, being a vegan can cut your carbon footprint massively. The reason for this is because the amount of resources that goes into producing one burger or steak is astranomical. Watching documentaries like "Cowspiracy" and "Forks Over Knives" can provide information about veganism and its beneficial impact on the environment.

I can agree that if everyone cut their meat usage you could decrease your carbon footprint ,but the problem is getting everyone to do it

I agree on the part that it would lower emissions substantially but in turn how would it affect our health and our life expediencies???

I just realized how much eating meat could impact the environment and i really agree with you

Hi all - good conversation! 

Maya: your post caused me to check on that lettuce versus bacon issue.  I found a scientific american reprint of the original article where you probably got your information, and I must say that I find that comparison a bit disingenuous.  I mean: wouldn't a better comparison be tofu versus bacon?  Nobody replaces bacon with lettuce! 

Ultimately, from the data I've seen, if you compare the impact of a vegan or vegetarian diet versus a omnivorous one (meat and everything else), the vegetarian diet has a lesser climate impact than omnivore, and the vegan diet has the lowest impact.   

The USDA does not currently recommend a vegetarian diet, and the USDA guidelines are not at all focused on climate change - they are focused on health concerns.

Pigs and cows have a huge climate impact, especially through their methane production (from poops and farts), which is 20x more potent a greenhouse gas than CO2 on a molecule-by-molecule basis.   

I have seen no reputable source that disputes this.

Here's a link on methane in agriculture:
https://thinkprogress.org/methane-emiss … .fzmcn0byj

Your sister is doing good, she must be very brave to not eating meat anymore.
Give her my respects.

You make a great point, Carly. But I think what you should consider is the nutrition and health levels that would decline if everyone switched to veganism. Meat contains all the essential amino acids and is ranked as one of the best sources of protein. Many animal products, like cheese and milk contain a great deal of calcium, which is especially required for children with growing bones. Yes, you can find calcium and protein in other foods, but you would have to consume much more to get the same amount of protein and vitamins that are in meat and animal products. Also, if the whole world switched to natural sources of food, millions of people in the food industry would lose their jobs or would be much harder for them to make money off their products. Another point is that the world would obviously, have to increase agricultural flow. Not all places around the world are fertile for growing agriculture, so in these areas there would be a great lack of food and everything would have to be shipped to them. If the agricultural levels increase drastically, so will the use of w ater. Growing crops uses a lot of water and if we were using it to produce all of our food, then we would eventually run out of it and it is our most important resource. Humans would likely eat the produce faster than it can be regrown, and this could lead to worldwide starvation. For all these reasons, I believe that turning vegan would not solve our worldwide problems of food and hunger.