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Meat and the planet -

The heavy carbon footprint of the meat industry is well documented. Indeed, animal products are responsible for 57% of global food-related emissions.

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Statistics -

Plant-based products, by contrast, only contribute to 29% of the total emissions. And this is despite the fact that animals provide less than 20% of the world’s total energy from food.

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Helping the planet -

Giving up meat, therefore, is one of the most impactful steps you can take if you are looking to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet.

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Other consequences -

According to new research, however, refraining from eating meat could also have consequences that go far beyond helping the planet.

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"Meat disgust" -

Indeed, there are recent studies that suggest abstinence from meat can increase feelings of what experts are referring to as "meat disgust."

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Defining the term -

The term is exactly what it says on the tin: that feeling of disgust some people experience when they think about eating, or are made to eat, meat.

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Old concept -

The idea that abstaining from animal products increases this aversion is nothing new. In fact, it has been reported anecdotally ever since the dawn of vegetarianism.

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Emerging evidence -

Thanks to one small, independent study in the UK, however, scientists now have concrete (albeit limited) evidence that this phenomenon exists.

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The study -

The study looked at 40 participants who normally ate meat and who reduced their consumption over the month of January.

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The findings -

It found that the more meat the participants managed to cut out over the course of the month, the more their meat disgust grew.

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Numbers -

Indeed, by the end of the month, 28 out of the 40 participants had reported an increase in their feelings of meat disgust.

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Larger study -

There was also another study, carried out at the University of Exeter, that found a connection between reduced meat consumption and meat aversion. This study, which was larger and carried out over six months, found that 74% of vegetarians were classified as "meat disgusted."

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Caveat -

It is important to note that participants were not asked why they chose to give up meat. Therefore, it is possible they had an existing aversion.

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Growing body of research -

In fact, this research is in its infancy in general. However, experts believe this is an interesting area of social science research that warrants further investigation.

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Also ongoing... -

Research into the environmental impact of various diets is also ongoing, and in 2023 a research team at the University of Oxford published a landmark study.

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Landmark study -

The study looked at 55,000 people in the UK who followed different diets; there were large numbers of vegetarians and vegans included in the mix.

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Breaking the mold -

The study was the first of its kind, in the sense that it looked at the relationship between diet and a range of environmental measures, rather than just carbon emissions.

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Unsurprising findings -

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the study found that the vegan diet had the lowest carbon emissions: just 25% of the emissions produced by a diet that includes more than 100 g of meat per day.

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Holding true -

This held true, even when the air miles and the (not inconsiderable) resources used to produce plant-based ingredients were taken into account.

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Further findings -

The study also found that, for those people who were not vegan or vegetarian, simply eating less meat had a positive impact on emissions.

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Options -

Reducing your daily meat intake could either mean eating smaller portions, or incorporating fewer meat meals into your daily diet.

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At scale -

The research suggests that if these reductions were to be made across the population, the impact would be enormous.

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Statistics -

According to one BBC article, if big meat-eaters in the UK were to cut at least some of the meat out of their diet, it would be akin to taking eight million cars off the road!

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Type matters -

In addition to reducing meat intake, studies show that the type of meat and animal products you eat make a difference, too.

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The importance of methane -

Beef and lamb, for example, have a much higher carbon footprint than chicken and turkey, because they naturally produce the potent greenhouse gas methane.

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Public policy -

The scientists behind these studies in the UK are hopeful that, someday soon, their findings may be used to inform public policy.

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Little appetite -

At the moment, however, like in so many other countries across the world, there is very little political appetite to introduce a robust meat-reduction policy.

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Trailblazer -

One country going against the grain is Denmark, where the government policy is to encourage plant-based foods and cut back on meat.

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The status quo -

For the time being, however, the vast majority of governments are not prioritizing this issue, not least because there appears to be little public support.

Sources: (BBC)

See also: The most consumed meats by country

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