Swap Half Your Meat and Dairy With Plant-Based Alternatives to Save the Forests

One of the big false ideas about leading a more lasting lifestyle is that it is all or nothing. Defenders of the planet often act urgently – which is logical since we are witnessing the collapse of nature and others. But sometimes this emergency can appear as “never fly, go zero waste now, stop eating meat yesterday.” And although some people may be forced to do this exactly that, others need not baby.

And we are here to tell you this: baby steps work! It should not be all or nothing; The simple reduction of certain behaviors may be sufficient to move the needle.

A new study published in Nature Communications illustrates this well by revealing that the substitution of 50% of animal products (pork, chicken, beef and milk) by plant alternatives can “reduce global agriculture emissions by 31%, save forests and improve nutrition for millions of people”.

Researchers, originally from the University of Vermont (UVM), the International Institute for the Analysis of Applied Systems (IASA), the Alliance of Bioversity International, and CIAT used a global model for the use of economic lands to assess the impacts at the level of the food system of a change in global dietetics towards these alternatives. “Although replacement of the beef offers the most important impacts”, notes the study, “replacing several products is synergistic.”

They say that additional climate and biodiversity advantages could come from reforestation land that are no longer necessary for livestock when meat and dairy products are exchanged for plant alternatives. This will double climate advantages and have half the future declines of the integrity of the ecosystem by 2050. They note that the restored area “could contribute up to 25% of the estimated land restoration needs under target 2 of the world biodiversity frame of Kunming Montreal by 2030.”

“We will need much more than” Mondays without meat “to reduce global GHG emissions to conduct climate change – and this study shows us a way to follow,” said Eva Wollenberg, co -author of the study, of UVM. [Though Treehugger would never be dismissive of Meatless Mondays, for the record.] “Plant -based meats are not only a new food product, but a critical opportunity to achieve food security and climatic objectives while achieving health and biodiversity objectives worldwide.”

The results reveal that the substitution of 50% of meat and milk would considerably reduce the growing impacts of food systems on the natural environment. By 2050, compared to 2020, the positive effects would include:

• The global agricultural area decreases by 12% instead of expansion.
• The drop in forest zones and other natural land is almost completely interrupted.
• The nitrogen intake to cultivated land is almost half of the projections.
• Water consumption decreases by 10% instead of increasing.
• Without taking into account carbon sequestration on spared land, GHG emissions could decrease by 2.1 GT CO2EQ YEAR-1 (31%) in 2050 (1.6 GT CO2EQ YEAR-1 on average in 2020-2050).
• Under food overall decreases to 3.6%, compared to 3.8% in the reference scenario (reducing the number of undernourished people by 31 million).

“Understanding the impacts of food changes widens our options to reduce GHG emissions,” said Marta Kozicka, principal study director, IIASA researcher. “Changing diets could also make huge improvements for biodiversity.”

For work, the authors have developed scenarios of food changes based on recipes based on plants for beef, pork, chicken and milk. The recipes they used were nutritionally comparable to animal -based and realistic foods for the manufacturing capacities of existing foods and the production ingredients available worldwide.

They note that the complete environmental benefit of regime exchanges could be carried out if the agricultural land spared are restored by the afforestation focused on biodiversity. In the 50%scenario, the advantages of a reduction in land use emissions could double compared to a scenario without afforestation. The 50% scenario would reduce the expected decline in the integrity of the ecosystem of more than half.

“Despite the consideration of less than 20% of the world supply of food energy, foods with animal source (ASF) are responsible for the majority of negative impacts on land use, water use, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions in global food systems,” notes the study.

“It becomes clear that encouraging the adoption of low ASF regimes will be an important element to achieve the objectives of attenuation of climate change, achieve the objectives of health and food security worldwide and maintain the use of natural resources within planetary limits.”

So let’s go! If you need to start with small steps, add mushrooms to your hamburger cake, use half oat milk / half-Vache milk in your coffee and learn more about the way of becoming a reducing. Forests (and animals) will thank you.