ENVIRONMENT
Is a Vegan Diet Really Better for the Planet?
The results of this Oxford scientific study may surprise you
It’s the question on everyone’s lips: Is being vegan really better for the environment than eating meat?
A lot of people claim it is. A lot of people really want to believe that it isn’t.
So which is it?
Well, a group of scientists at Oxford University wanted to find the answer to that question, too, so they studied the dietary data from 55,000 people who had been tracked for more than 20 years.
Their aim was to analyse what this test group ate or drank in relation to five key factors:
- greenhouse gas emissions
- land use
- water use
- water pollution
- biodiversity loss.
To be fair, it’s common knowledge that plant-based diets are generally better for the environment than those heavy on meat. The study set out to find just how much difference there really was.
This study was much more detailed and nuanced than previous studies of its kind. Others have tended to compare the impact of, for example, bread against steak, assuming that all bread or all steak…
