Search GSSD

Sustainability of meat-based and plant-based diets and the environment

Abstract: 
The energy, agriculture, and land use sustainability problems associated with meat-based versus plant-based diets are analyzed in this report. "Worldwide, an estimated 2 billion people live primarily on a meat-based diet, while an estimated 4 billion live primarily on a plant-based diet. The US food production system uses about 50% of the total US land area, 80% of the fresh water, and 17% of the fossil energy used in the country. The heavy dependence on fossil energy suggests that the US food system, whether meat-based or plant-based, is not sustainable. The use of land and energy resources devoted to an average meat-based diet compared with a lactoovovegetarian (plant-based) diet is analyzed in this report. In both diets, the daily quantity of calories consumed are kept constant at about 3533 kcal per person. The meat-based food system requires more energy, land, and water resources than the lactoovovegetarian diet. In this limited sense, the lactoovovegetarian diet is more sustainable than the average American meatbased diet."
Author: 
David Pimentel; Marcia Pimentel
Institution: 
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Year: 
2014
Industry Focus: 
Energy
Food & Agriculture
Country: 
United States
Datatype(s): 
Bibliographies & Reports