Hold onto it while it lasts, meat lovers: the future of your favorite dish could only be tinged with green. A new study shows how adopting plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy could be one of the smartest moves we could make for our planet. We're talking about cutting agricultural pollution by a third and stopping deforestation. How is it possible? Let's look closer.
Vegetable alternatives to meat have an extraordinary impact
Recent research published in the journal Nature Communications. (I link it to you here) revealed that the dietary choice of plant-based alternatives to meat, considered by some to be marginal, could actually reduce global agricultural pollution by a third by 2050. And that's not all: it could also help stop deforestation and preserve biodiversity .
The writer still eats meat. Less and less, more and more rarely, almost never the red one: I can't eliminate it completely because I like it, but I know not to abuse it it can benefit me. Apart from everything else, it is also clear to me that animal agriculture is one of the main causes of environmental pollution. Cattle they produce a lot of methane, a gas that is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in global warming. Just 15 meat and dairy companies produce polluting methane emissions equal to those of the entire European Union.
We need a change
This is not just an ethical or lifestyle issue. According to the co-author of the study, Eva Wollenberg, plant-based alternatives represent “a critical opportunity to achieve food security and climate goals, as well as global health and biodiversity goals.” In other words, it is a global imperative.
And don't think that plant-based alternatives are just a "freak" of Europeans and Westerners (also because in the old continent the consumption of meat it's already collapsing). Research indicates that a transition to plant-based foods would have the greatest impact in sub-Saharan Africa, China and Southeast Asia when it comes to reducing biodiversity loss. For the reduction of carbon pollution, however, the most advantaged regions would be sub-Saharan Africa and South America.
There's no need to become vegan
Away with this alibi too: no one writes that meat must necessarily be renounced. Adopting a “plant-oriented” diet (replacing even just some meat-based meals with plant-based alternatives) is a great way to contribute. Better than what passes for the imposition of taxes on meat consumption. Plant-based alternatives such as beans, greens, tofu or seitan twice a week can be nutritious substitutes and conscious contributions to the well-being of the planet.
This is a trend that is inexorably destined to grow hand in hand with consumers' food awareness. It is not a stretch to say that a difference can be made simply by leaving the "beloved" hamburger on the supermarket shelves a few more times.
