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The Climate Impact Of Diets | Earth Wise

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The food system is responsible for 70% of the world’s freshwater use and almost 80% of freshwater pollution.  About three-quarters of the ice-free land area of the planet has been affected by human use, primarily for agriculture.  Land-use change such as deforestation is a major source of biodiversity loss.  What we choose to eat has a major effect on how the food system impacts the environment.

A comprehensive study by researchers at several UK universities has found that a plant-based diet yields one-fourth as much greenhouse gases as a diet rich in meat.  Vegan diets produce 75% less heat-trapping gas, generate 75% less water pollution, and use 75% less land than meat-rich diets.

Just going to a low-meat diet cuts the environmental cost of a high-meat diet in half.  Pescatarian diets perform better than low-meat diets, and vegetarian diets do even a little better than that.

There are a variety of reasons why many people won’t, can’t, or even shouldn’t become vegans.  What should be learned from this study is that our dietary choices have a major environmental impact.  So, taking actions like cutting down the amount of meat and dairy – which most people can do with relative ease – can be valuable.

There are many choices with respect to where we live, how we get from place to place, where we get our food, and, yes, what food we eat, that impact the environment.  We are not all going to do the best possible thing in all these cases, but if we each make some choices that at least help, it can make a big difference.

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Vegan Diets Have One-Fourth the Climate Impact of Meat-Heavy Diets, Study Finds

Photo, posted November 5, 2017, courtesy of Stephanie Kraus via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fake Meat And Climate | Earth Wise

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Investors have poured billions of dollars into efforts to replace animal proteins with plant-based substitutes or even laboratory-grown animal cells.  Replacing meats with these products is certainly a favorable development for the climate, but it is not likely to offset livestock agriculture’s climate and land use impacts anytime soon.

According to research at Stanford University, even optimistic estimates are that only something like 5% of dietary protein will come from these technologies by 2030.  That just isn’t fast enough to put a real dent in the food-related emissions problem.

Stanford environmental scientist David Lobell suggests that there should be much more focus on reducing emissions of animal-based systems.  There really hasn’t been much effort in this area because it is only recently that the climate impact of animal agriculture has been a topic of public concern.  One problem is that it is difficult for investors to monetize investments in approaches for lowering animal agriculture emissions.  These might include alternative feeds or supplements or vaccinations that inhibit methane-producing microorganisms in animals’ digestive systems.

Another approach to the problem is changing the mix of animal proteins in people’s diets.  Chicken and pork are half as bad as dairy per pound of protein, and about one-tenth as bad as beef, in terms of emissions.

Dairy is a major issue. There has been quite a lot of progress in increasing the use of dairy-free milk, but over the past 40 years, Americans have cut their consumption of milk in half but doubled their consumption of cheese.  Progress in dairy-free cheese has not been anywhere near as successful as that of dairy-free milk.  But new products are entering the marketplace all the time.

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Is fake meat a real solution? Stanford expert explains

Photo, posted June 17, 2019, courtesy of Christolph Scholz via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

A Miracle Tree | Earth Wise

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The world needs to be fed without destroying the environment.   We need to grow more trees to store more carbon on earth and reduce the amount in the atmosphere.  But meanwhile, we decimate rainforests to produce palm oil and grow soybeans.

A startup company in California called Terviva thinks they have a solution.  It’s called pongamia, which is an ordinary looking tropical tree.  It produces beans packed with protein and oil, much like soybeans.  However, it has the potential to produce much more nutrition per acre than soybeans and it is hardy enough to grow on pretty much any kind of land without the use of pesticides, fertilizers, or irrigation.  In short, it is a miracle crop for a hot and hungry planet that is running out of fertile farmland and fresh water.

Pongamia is not a new or rare tree.  It is common in India but grows all over the world.  It is often planted as an ornamental here in the U.S.

The initial idea for making use of the hardy tree was to use its oil as a biofuel.  The seeds of pongamia are known to have a bitter taste and disagreeable odor, which is why the seeds or oil were never used for human or animal feed.  However, Terviva has developed a way to de-bitter pongamia oil.  Once this is done, it becomes a golden-colored substitute for olive oil. It also has enormous potential as a protein for plant-based milks and meats, since it contains all nine essential amino acids.

Terviva has raised more than $100 million to further develop pongamia and is now partnering with Danone, a $25 billion multinational food company, to develop pongamia as a climate-friendly, climate-resilient, non-GMO alternative to soy and palm oil.

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This super-tree could help feed the world and fight climate change

Photo, posted December 15, 2015, courtesy of Lauren Gutierrez via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Plant-Based Foods And CO2 Emissions | Earth Wise

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We often hear how eating locally-sourced food is a way to minimize the carbon footprint of our diet.  But from a climate impact perspective, this only has a significant impact if transportation is responsible for a large portion of a food’s final carbon footprint.  In many cases, the greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation make up only a small portion of the total emissions from food, and what we eat is far more important.

In general, beef and lamb have the biggest climate footprint per gram of protein.  Plant-based foods tend to have the smallest impact. Pork and chicken are somewhere in the middle. 

According to new research, U.S. food production could reduce its agricultural carbon footprint between 2.5% and 13.5% by embracing plant-based alternatives to beef.  The study, from researchers at Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, and international partners, found that most of the reduction would be achieved by decreasing the number of cows needed for beef production by two to twelve million animals.  The research was recently published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health.

However, the researchers also found that acting to reduce climate change in this manner could have unintended consequences.  For example, economic models from the research team show that the growth in popularity of plant-based beef could disrupt the agricultural workforce, threatening more than 1.5 million jobs. 

But in the big picture, doing nothing will cost much more than doing something to slow climate change.  Shifting diets away from meat and other animal products and towards more plant-based foods will help shrink carbon footprints and mitigate climate change.  It’s a win-win for the planet and for human health. 

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Plant-based ‘beef’ reduces CO2 but threatens ag jobs

Photo, posted November 27, 2018, courtesy of Sarah Stierch via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Eating To Help The Planet | Earth Wise

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Agriculture accounts for more carbon dioxide emissions than transportation.  Producing our food is one of the largest contributors to climate change.   Experts agree that the world cannot achieve net zero emission targets without changing our diets.  Be that as it may, we still have to eat. 

According to experts from Oxford University, there are things we as individuals can do to lower the impact of the food system on the climate.

There are three primary actions that would have the greatest impact: avoiding eating too much, cutting down on food waste, and reducing consumption of meat and dairy.

We all know that overeating is bad for our health, but it is also bad for the environment as it drives excess production and the emissions associated with it.

Food waste occurs across the supply chain but much of it is in the hands of consumers.  Food waste costs us a lot of money and is associated with emissions that are ultimately unnecessary.  The goal of the consumer should be to buy only the food one needs and to eat what one buys.

Meats, particularly from ruminant animals, result in the highest emissions per pound of food compared with vegetables, grains, and such.  Some people have given up animal proteins entirely, but properly managed livestock are an important part of the agricultural ecosystem and provide valuable services including enhancing the carbon sequestering ability of grasslands.  Nevertheless, it is important to reduce the global demand for meat and thereby prevent the need to clear more land for livestock and reduce emissions from meat animals.  So, we should all eat less meat and dairy even if we don’t become vegetarians.

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How can we eat without cooking the planet?

Photo, posted September 17, 2017, courtesy of Ella Olsson via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Preserving Produce With Eggs | Earth Wise

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Researchers at Brown University have developed an inexpensive coating to protect fruits and vegetables that is made from eggs that would otherwise be wasted.  The micron-thick coating solves problems for the produce and its consumers as well as for the environment.

The coating relies on eggs that never reach the market.  The U.S. produces more than 7 billion eggs a year.  The supply chain rejects about 3% of them, typically because of shell damage, which means that more than 200 million eggs end up in landfills.

The coating is mostly made from egg, the rest consisting of nanoscale cellulose extracted from wood, a tiny amount of curcumin (the main active ingredient in turmeric that has antimicrobial properties), and a bit of glycerol for added elasticity.  The coating is applied to produce by spraying or dipping.  It shows a remarkable ability to resist rotting for an extended period comparable to standard coatings like wax, but without their shortcomings.

Along with being edible, the coating retards dehydration, provides antimicrobial protection, and is largely impermeable to both water vapor to prevent dehydration and to gas to prevent premature ripening.  The coating is entirely natural, and it washes off with water.  So, anyone sensitive to the coating, such as someone with an egg allergy, can easily eliminate it.

Lab tests of the coating studied its effects on strawberries, avocados, bananas and other fruits.  All were seen to maintain their freshness far longer than uncoated produce.

The researchers are continuing to refine the coating.  They are also considering other source materials.  They chose egg proteins because there are so many wasted eggs, but it may be possible to make use of plant proteins instead to address the needs of vegan consumers.

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Egg-based coating preserves fresh produce

Photo, posted July 13, 2012, courtesy of Liz West via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Whopping Change

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Burger King, the global hamburger fast food giant, recently made a huge announcement:  Customers will soon have the option to select either a beef patty or a plant-based patty when ordering the iconic Whopper sandwich. 

Burger King’s plant-based patty will be made by Impossible Foods, a California startup founded in 2011 with the explicit goal of decreasing the world’s reliance on animal agriculture.  Impossible Foods signature product, the Impossible burger, has already debuted as a slider in White Castle’s 380 or so stores.  It’s also being added to the menu at all 570 Red Robin locations.  Other plant-based innovators, such as Beyond Meat, have also found some mainstream success.  But the Impossible Whopper and the planned national roll-out at Burger King’s 7,200 locations is the biggest deal to date.

Impossible Foods’ major innovation comes from its use of heme, which is an iron-rich protein that in essence is what makes meat taste like meat.  Impossible Foods cultivates heme directly from plants – soybean plant roots to be exact – and then mass produces it using yeast.  This is then mixed with other plant-based ingredients to achieve the nutty texture of ground beef.

Meat production is one of the biggest single contributors to climate change.  The Impossible burger represents a better choice for the environment.  It requires 87% less water, 96% less land, and produces 89% fewer greenhouse gas emissions when compared with beef burgers.  At Burger King, the Impossible Whopper will have the same amount of protein as the regular Whopper, but 15% less fat and 90% less cholesterol. 

Meatless continues to push into the mainstream.

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Behold the Beefless ‘Impossible Whopper’

Photo, posted November 27, 2018, courtesy of Sarah Stierch via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Hopeful Climate Trends

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In November, Syria joined the Paris Climate Accord.  As a result, the United States is now the only country in the world that has rejected the global pact.  Despite this embarrassing news, there is reason for optimism in the effort to stave off the worst impacts of climate change.  In particular, 7 major trends provide hope that things could move in the right direction.

[Read more…] about Hopeful Climate Trends

Plant Protein On The Rise

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The United Nations declared 2016 to be the International Year of Pulses.  Pulses, which are also known as grain legumes, are a group of 12 crops that includes dry beans, dry peas, chickpeas and lentils.  They are high in protein as well as fiber and various vitamins.  Pulse crops are highly sustainable and require much less water than many other food crops.  So there is a real effort underway to promote their production as part of improving food security around the world.

[Read more…] about Plant Protein On The Rise

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