Eating A Salad is Worse For the Environment Than Meat

Every meat eater longs to hear that eating salad is three times worse than eating meat...

No, not in terms of health - obviously - as the World Health Organisation pointed out recently, bacon is seriously bad. But it is better in terms of the environment.

The amount of energy and water required to grow lettuce is far higher than the amount to produce bacon, when reckoned per calorie, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in America.

The research, published in the journal Environment Systems and Decisions, measured energy use, how much water is needed and greenhouse gas emissions right the way through the food chain.

The researchers looked at how growing, processing and transporting food, food sales and service, and household storage can have an impact on the environment.

Research author Paul Fischbeck of Carnegie Mellon said, ‘Eating lettuce is over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon.'

‘Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken.’

The study found that eating fewer calories contributed to better health and would reduce the use of energy, water and greenhouse gas.

But on a diet when the meat is replaced by fruit and veg, dairy and seafood was found to increase energy use, per calorie, by 38%, water use by 10% and greenhouse gas emissions by six per cent.

‘There’s a complex relationship between diet and the environment.

‘What is good for us healthwise isn’t always what’s best for the environment.

‘That’s important for public officials to know and for them to be cognisant of these tradeoffs as they develop or continue to develop dietary guidelines in the future.’