Cutting U.S. meat consumption by half would reduce dietary emissions by 35% within decade

© wanaktek via Twenty20 The gains are even bigger when beef is targeted specifically. If every American reduced the amount of meat they eat by half, replacing it with plant-based products, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions would shrink by 1.6 billion metric tonnes by the year 2030. This is the conclusion of a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and Tulane University, titled " Implications of Future U.S. Diet Scenarios on Greenhouse Gas Emissions ." The researchers examined the average American diet to figure out how much meat (specifically, red meat) is being consumed, and how much that represents in terms of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE). Then they made several projections: (1) If the baseline diet remained unchanged until 2030 (2) If meat and poultry consumption increased, which is what the U.S. Department of Agriculture has predicted (3) If consumption of all animal-based products were reduced by 50 percent and replaced with plant-based alternatives (4) Same as no. 3, but if beef were cut by 90 percent, rather than 50. Right now, the average American eats 133 pounds of red meat and poultry per year, which emits 5.0 kg CO2e per person daily. While […]

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