Vegan diet cuts environmental damage, study shows
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
I'm not a vegan. But I did go on a plant-based diet for a year. I felt great mentally, limited my acid reflux, lost some weight, and lowered my cholesterol. My motivation for doing it was personal health first. The fact that I wasn't eating any animals and helping the environment was a bonus.
I'm no longer on a pure plant-based diet today due to the inconvenience such as social outings. In addition, a lot of plant-based food is actually more expensive than meat-based food, which was surprising to me. I guess our animal-based food making machine reached an economy of scale that surpasses even plants.
I don't recommend that people cut out all meat full-stop. Instead, just cut out 20% first. Have a meat-free day each week. Then increase to 50% and then 80%, etc if you want to keep pushing yourself.
I'm currently meatless for 50% of my meals. For me, it's a good balance between my goals and convenience.
PS. It might feel strange not eating meat for a meal. I sure did. But after doing it for a while, the idea of eating meat felt strange and I felt disgusted at the thought of eating meat.
No, the problem is subsidies (and lobying).
"The U.S government spends $38 billion each year to subsidize the meat and dairy industries, but only 0.04 percent of that (i.e., $17 million) each year to subsidize fruits and vegetables." (https://scet.berkeley.edu/wp-content/uploads/CopyofFINALSavi... )
> a lot of plant-based food is actually more expensive than meat-based food
Not if we're talking about whole foods ... vegan diets are the lowest priced diets in the high-income countries (https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-11-11-sustainable-eating-chea...).
Relatively more expensive are processed plant-based replacements of meat & dairy - again the result of subsidies and economies of scale. The situation keeps getting better though ... with numbers of vegans increasing and production of these things being ramped up.
> convenience
Habit, tradition, convenience, taste. The only reasons that exist. We kill 90+ billion land animals and 1-3 trillion marine animals a year for no necessity.
And we're not talking about biodiversity loss, environmental destruction, deforestation, pollution/eutrophication, health ... that seems like a big price for a mere convenience.
> If you go to r/vegan, they'll downvote you if you're just plant-based dieting
I don't agree with them on this, but their reason is "I'm currently meatless for 50% of my meals". Those who switch for ethical reasons are more unlikely to switch back.
Relatively more expensive are processed plant-based replacements of meat & dairy - again the result of subsidies and economies of scale. The situation keeps getting better though ... with numbers of vegans increasing and production of these things being ramped up.
I mostly eat out. I found it surprising that vegan restaurants of the same class often charge more than meat restaurants or vegan dishes cost more in the same restaurant. It's like vegan restaurants are trying to gouge consumers because they serve a more passionate audience. And I'm not talking about exotic plant-based burgers. I don't eat those. I'm just talking about dishes that just use plants - not fancy meat substitutes.
In the article you linked to, it does say that the prices exclude eating out at restaurants. I think that realistically, eating a plant based diet IS more expensive on average. That has been my experience.
Anyways, I hope it changes soon like you said. There's really no reason why the average plant-based meal should be more expensive than animal-based.
This sort of behavior is counter productive in my opinion. It makes the general public hate vegans and think of them as lunatics. Most Redditors who go on a vegan diet will go to r/vegan first and that's where they will encounter a ton of hostility.
I quickly left r/vegan and went to r/PlantBasedDiet where I was far more welcomed.
> I get why they're so passionate.
Hm, it seems like it didn't "click" for you just yet.
I'm in it for environmental reasons, something that's also frowned upon there. But that doesn't mean I don't understand their position. It's just something that can't be really described with words. You have to feel it ... or not ... but when you do, it changes you forever.
Have you tried watching dominion and "best speech ever" ?
Sorry, but this sounds like animal ag. propaganda.
Most faux vegan meat substitutes are just vegetable protein (essentially plant-based flour), fat and few spices.
You can make home-made vegan meat and and dairy replacements and it's just few ingredients.
E.g. seitan is just vital gluten flour, water/veggie stock, salt and spices.
Basic vegan cheese is just plant-based fat/milk, starch and salt.
And last but not least ... vegan diets != faux meats. Vegan diets == plants, seeds, nuts, spices.
--- few links out of many ---
Vegan diet massively cuts environmental damage, study shows
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/20/vegan-di...
Plant-based meat by far the best climate investment, report finds
https://www.tech-paper.com/2022/07/plant-based-meat-by-far-b...
Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0216
Which Diet Has the Least Environmental Impact on Our Planet? A Systematic Review of Vegan, Vegetarian and Omnivorous Diets