People queue to buy vegan food at a food truck during the Calais Vegan Festival organized by the French association Farplace on Sept. 8, 2018, in Calais. PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP via Getty Images By Andrea Germanos A new study highlights how addressing U.S. diets could help tackle the climate crisis , finding that if Americans cut their consumption of animal-based foods by half, it could prevent 1.6 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan and Tulane University and was commissioned by conservation group Center for Biological Diversity. Gradually swapping out by 2030 half of all animal-based foods — including beef, eggs and dairy — for plant-based foods such as legumes and soy products could result in a 35% decrease in U.S. diet-related emissions, estimated the study. That equals a decline of roughly 224 million metric tons of emissions per year in 2030 — the equivalent of the annual emissions of 47.5 million passenger vehicles, said the researchers. If U.S. beef consumption is also cut by 90%, the climate benefits could be even bigger, the analysis found. That further-reaching change has the potential to bring about a […]
Slashing U.S. Meat Consumption by Half Could Cut Diet-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 35%, Study Finds
Grant Brown
