Recent research reveals that changing to a vegetarian diet could save millions of lives, while also combatting climate change! According to a study made by Mark Springman and a team of scientists at Oxford University, if human beings continue to eat a lot of meat and fish, we are certain to suffer the harmful effects of global warming.
original RESEARCH
Today’s food industry is responsible for around 25 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions. 80 per cent of these come from livestock production and diseases associated with eating red meat. But what would happen if humanity chose a healthier diet, replacing red meat with vegetables? And what if we became completely vegetarian —or even vegan? This study considers these options and suggests three surprising outcomes.
MILLIONS SAVED!
By increasing the minimum amount of vegetables in all our diets by 25 per cent, mortality rates would fall by six to ten per cent by the year 2050. If humanity decided to go vegan, up to eight million lives could be saved every year!
A vegetarian diet would also reduce the number of people who suffer from malnutrition, says Springman, as vegetables can be grown in bigger quantities and so can provide a more abundant and nutritious food source for the world’s population than meat.
and THE planet?
The planet could also benefit from everyone eating a vegetarian diet! We could even avoid the environmental catastrophe that many scientists say is inevitable. According to this research, veganism could decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 29 to 70 per cent, enough to prevent the predicted floods, damage to crops, loss of biodiversity, etc.
THE healthy CHOICE
The study concludes that “food choice affects our health and has important implications for the environment.” Making the right choice is simple: “The fewer products derived from animals, the greater benefit to health and to the climate.”
best diet for humans
Does this mean that veganism is the best diet? It certainly seems that it is the diet best suited to the health of humanity! So much so that the American magazine Time called veganism “the diet that could save the planet.”
better than tech
Springman’s study also concludes that changing our diet is more effective than expensive technological solutions to climate change.
Unfortunately, data is almost never enough to convince politicians, which is why scientists have converted their conclusions into cash, arguing that a vegan diet could save humanity a trillion dollars a year! If happiness had a price, that would be it.
