The next time you stock up on peppers and pears at the supermarket, think of your children’s children. Do you really want them to grow up in a world where crops are plentiful, but we’re driving cars with our feet like the Flintstones because gasoline is a thing of the past? Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but according to a new scientific study published in the Environment Systems and Decisions Journal, lettuce is “over three times worse in greenhouse-gas emissions than eating bacon.”
The report was put together by Carnegie Mellon University researchers, who “analyzed the impact per calorie of different foods in terms of energy cost, water use, and emissions.” Eating meat isn’t helping the environment (think greenhouse gases and water usage), but “lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think,” said study co-author and Carnegie Mellon professor Paul Fischbeck. “Eggplant, celery, and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken.” Taste bad, too.
According to the authors, the study analyzed the impact on the environment from changing the average U.S. diet to three new “dietary scenarios.”
Reducing the number of calories consumed, without changing the proportion of meat and other food types, cut combined emissions, energy, and water use by around 9 percent. Perhaps understandably, maintaining calorie intake but completely shifting to healthy foods increased energy use by 43 percent, water use by 16 percent, and emissions by 11 percent. (Via the Independent)
This is just the kind of “well, ACTUALLY…” study that children who hate broccoli have been waiting for.
(Via the Independent)
