Are plant-based diets better for the environment? Let’s check it out! |

The vegetarian trend is eco!

Listening carefully to the second episode of’s podcast, “Minced meat without a gram of meat, but how to”, we can come to the conclusion that switching to a vegetarian or vegan diet can benefit our planet. Even at the beginning of this year, the Dalai Lama even called for the abandonment of meat for climatic reasons, although he himself likes to eat a semi-blood sirloin steak from time to time.

In the podcast, the vegan calculator is mentioned, thanks to which you can calculate how many animals and planet resources are saved by using a plant-based diet. I entered my vegetarian internship there – 20 years – and it turned out that during this period of time I saved the lives of 7 animals and contributed to considerable savings in water, forest resources, grain and lower carbon dioxide emissions. All this sounds optimistic, unfortunately the state of our environment and climate change have entered dangerous regions.

If more and more people switch to veg, will the world change for the better? Is animal husbandry and meat production really such a climate-aggravating problem? These and many other questions were bothering me after listening to’s podcast, so I decided to explore the topic in more detail. Thanks to this, I was able to find information about which I had no idea. This article is the result of my research and conclusions that I have reached. The facts that I will present here are not widely known and may be controversial.

A plant-based diet as a panacea for a poisoned environment?

The media alert us to the fact that animal husbandry is the cause of the devastation of our planet and contributes to huge losses of water and energy used in the meat processing industry.

Throughout this discussion of the impact of diet on the environment, there are catastrophic visions of the collapse of the food market, mass starvation due to a growing world population, and very disturbing data on climate change. No wonder that more and more people, out of fear for their future and their children’s future, decide to eat plant-based diets, believing that thanks to this they are able to reverse the rush to destruction and help Mother Earth a little.

In the podcast it is summed up in the words – “it’s terrible, but it can be beautiful” – if we just give up meat. Are these veg visions really that optimistic? Does eating meat really ruin the environment that much?

Cow farming is threatening the planet!

Beef is not on a streak these days. Doctors and scientists scare that its consumption causes cardiovascular diseases, cancer and even diabetes. Additionally, it has been warned that cattle farming and beef production consume enormous amounts of the Earth’s natural resources. Therefore, giving up eating beef seems to be the right solution out of concern for the environment.

This is what Leonardo DiCaprio is calling for in his documentary on climate change. “Is there an end to us?” Talking to an expert, they come to the conclusion that if a man has to eat meat because tofu is in his throat, then chicken will be a better choice than beef, because his breeding does not require as much land as in the case of cows and does not require it poisons the environment to such a great extent.

Meatless meat made of vegetables

Another influential man in the world – Bill Gates in his latest book “How To Avoid a Climate Disaster” also blames the meat industry for most of the climatic evil in the world. Cow breeding is particularly stigmatized by him. Gates is a visionary who decided to invest in the production of fake meat from plants.

He has spent enormous financial resources on two companies responsible for the production of alternatives to meat products: Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Bill Gates’ big dream, which will surely be pushy push forward, is that one hundred percent of the population of rich countries will replace real beef – vegetable products that imitate meat, preferably from his companies, of course!

The first Beyond Meat production plant in Europe was established in the Netherlands. Vegetable alternatives of this company’s meat are also available in Poland in some shops and restaurants. I tried a product of this company called Beyond Mince, which is a vegetable equivalent of minced meat. I bought this meatless meat in the Albert Heijn supermarket, burgers, sausages and other products of this company were already sold out. Did I like it? After frying in a pan and seasoning with salt and pepper – very good. As an ingredient in tacos – delicious!

Impossible Foods has difficulties with the distribution of its products in Europe due to the strict standards and rules of introducing modified food to the European Union, which is the artificial meat produced by this company. She was famous for creating a “bleeding” plant Impossible Burger, which used soy leghemoglobin (also known as heme), a plant protein very similar in structure to the hemoglobin from the blood of animals.

The Impossible Foods website has the slogan “Eat Meat. Save The Planet ”. It is, of course, about vegetable “meat”. In addition, there is the “Impact Calculator” tab, thanks to which you can calculate the environmental footprint, which is used to assess the degree of impact of a product or company on the natural environment.

The graphics on this page are very suggestive and show that the more Impossible Foods you eat, the more ecologically beneficial you are. The consumer has the power to change the world: from a dilapidated and ugly – to a wonderful landscape with plants, clean water and happy animals – all you need to do is eat vegetable meat alternatives from Impossible Foods. Assuming that I will eat around 250 kilos of veggie burgers, the graphic shows me that I can live in the Garden of Eden. Nothing but eat! And eat again! And once more! Remember the consumer: heaven is waiting for you, enjoy! 😉

The amazing fantasy of marketers suggests people to eat a veggie cutlet instead of a steak, and at the same time become heroes who will save the world.

What is the cultivation of plants like today?

Most modern plant crops are based on industrial agriculture and monocultures. It is a system in which the same species of plants is kept in one area for many years. In the short term, this is profitable for the farmer as it simplifies farming operations and reduces the fragmentation of activities. In the long run, it leads to soil fatigue and its impoverishment as a result of intensive exploitation. In monoculture, the soil is also exposed to excessive drying out and the development of harmful microorganisms. To counteract these problems, farmers use large doses of fertilizers and pesticides on such crops.

If we imagine that the soil is a “bank account”, then monoculture costs us to collect “money” from this account – that is, minerals contained in the soil. You cannot continue to grow crops and harvest profusely year after year to the same extent, because the soil needs nutrition and regeneration. The problem is that in industrial crops the land is getting poorer and sterilized every year, and the more fertilizers are used, the more fertilizers are needed to keep it in good condition.

Plants from monoculture cultivation are not rich in minerals because the condition of the soil is deteriorating. In addition, the use of spraying adversely affects the ecosystems in the vicinity of monoculture crops and reduces biodiversity. The populations of butterflies, bees and other insects that do not respond well to chemical pesticides are declining. Scientists call this phenomenon “Insectageddon”.

Most of the ingredients used in companies that produce plant-based meat alternatives come from monoculture crops. Impossible Foods’ mission is to care for the environment, yet they use soybeans, maize or peas grown on a large scale, contributing to soil degradation and contamination of groundwater (due to the use of pesticides).

Hazardous amounts of glyphosate from the soybean spraying used in the veggie burger, Roundupem, have been detected in Impossible Foods burgers. Research by the Health Research Institute Laboratories found that the levels of glyphosate in the Impossible Burger were eleven times higher than in the Beyond Meat burger.

This is just a small example of the hypocrisy that corporations use to care for our environment. Do you remember the password of Impossible Foods? Eat Meat. Save The Planet ”. By the way, poison your body by eating their “Impossible Meat” from plants sprayed with pesticides.

Myths about cattle farming and the environmental footprint it causes

The livestock sector is responsible for 18% of emissions (some sources say up to 50%) of all greenhouse gases in the world, in most cases it is cattle and this is more than the sum of all exhaust gases produced by cars, planes and other means of transport globally. This information is repeated like a mantra, and even my mother heard this data from the television, convinced of its truth. It turns out, however, that from a scientific point of view, this is not true. This myth has been debunked, details on this subject are available on the Climate Science portal.

Another complaint with livestock farming, especially cows, is that they consume too much water. In the documentary “Cowspiracy”, which I watched a few years ago, it is stated that the production of a 110 g burger requires more than 2500 liters of water, which is the equivalent of taking a shower by one person in 2 months.

The water footprint of a burger is the total amount of water used to make it, starting with the life of a cow and ending with making a cutlet out of its meat. However, it was forgotten to add in this video that over 90% of the water needed to produce the burger is represented by the green water footprint, i.e. it is water from rain, stored by plants and soil. Could it be a minor oversight of the filmmakers, or maybe a deliberate procedure to mislead and convince people to be right?

For example, almond plantations in California, avocados in Mexico, or sugar in India absorb huge amounts of blue water, i.e. surface or underground water. Keep in mind that these sources are available for now because water is a renewable resource, but that does not mean that it is an unlimited resource.

In Mexico, forests are being cut down to gain new land for avocado plantations. The water needed to grow these tasty fruits is drawn in on a massive scale, which can lead to an increased risk of drought and fires. Transporting these fruits to Europe leaves a huge carbon footprint.

You don’t eat meat because of climate change, and are you giving up avocados or almond drinks for the same reasons?

Cows take up too much land to grow crops for a growing human population. This is another accusation that is attributed to cattle breeding, and which is not entirely correct, because cows and other ruminants, such as goats and sheep, may be grazed in areas unsuitable for plant crops. It turns out that about 60% of the earth’s area is unsuitable for plantation, due to the specific nature of the land, making it suitable for grazing cattle and other ruminants.

What is regenerative farming and why should it be promoted?

Intensive exploitation of the soil and the lack of the possibility of its regeneration lead to increasing barrenness of the land and desertification of vast areas. An example is the excessive and uncontrolled grazing of cattle in one area, monoculture crops, and too much chemical pesticides. All this is against the laws of nature, it leads to stagnation of crops, the devastation of ecosystems adjacent to the areas used for agriculture, and the slow decline of life in these areas.

Regenerative agriculture emphasizes soil restoration by natural means, focusing on plant biodiversity and the participation of animals in restoring ecosystems.

Cows to save nature!

It turns out that proper use of cattle can restore fertility to the land, reverse desertification and regenerate the ecosystem. How it’s possible? By treading on the devastated, dry soil, animals break it up, thanks to which grass seeds can get inside.

In addition, the cows enrich the area with natural compost produced on site by dung and urine excretion. By moving to another area, they give the loosened and fertilized soil a chance to regenerate. Over time, the grass begins to grow, the sterilized soil nourishes and the previously lost biodiversity of plants and animals appears.

An example of this practice is the Chihuahuan Desert on the border of the United States and Mexico – one of the most biologically diverse deserts in the world, inhabited by the largest number of animal species.

Due to the improper and robbery use of the desert areas, the local meadows covered with tall grass began to deteriorate, thus threatening the extinction of numerous species of birds and other animals that had sheltered there. Environmental organizations came up with the idea of ​​regenerating these areas through cooperation with local farmers, owners of cattle. Rotating grazing has successfully greened vast areas of dry land, thus restoring biodiversity. The meadows were overgrown with lush grasses again, the animals regained their habitat.

Do farm animals have a dignified life?

Cows should graze on the grass. It is their natural food that nourishes the animals ensuring their optimal development. Grass-fed animals are healthier, and having access to an enclosure and spending all days in the meadow, they are certainly happier than chickens, which are kept largely in a small space and very crowded.

One cow weighs around 500 – up to 700 kilograms if it is a meat breed. This amount of meat is enough to feed a family of four all year round, providing it with a product of high nutritional density. How many chickens would it take to feed the same family for one year? Isn’t it better to sacrifice the life of one cow whose meat can feed many more people than the meat of one chicken?

Do vegetarians who consume milk, cheese and butter realize that to have access to these products, cows need to be fertilized all the time, so their population is increasing? If there was no demand for meat and all people suddenly became vegetarian, the excess of cows would lead to land depletion due to congestion and overgrazing. Just as in nature, the amount of antelopes is naturally limited by predators, just as meat eaters support balance. Not every vegetarian is ready to become vegan.

As a vegetarian giving up meat for ethical reasons and reluctance to kill, have you wondered if the dairy you buy comes from grass-grazed cows or is it rather a product of animals that spend most of their lives in a barn? When you eat eggs, do you always choose only those from the farmer whose hens are chasing them in free range? Have you ever wondered under what conditions the animals whose products you eat live?

Grass-grazing cows use plants that get their energy to grow from sunlight, water and CO2 through photosynthesis. The food for the cows, such as grass and meadow plants, also removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. This food does not cost much compared to keeping chickens that are fed 100% grain. Handsome Leo DiCaprio, Your plea to eat artificially fueled chickens for rapid growth, grain fed, squeezed to the limit on a hen farm, and skipping beef is probably a big misunderstanding, what do you say? 😉

More meadows, less monoculture!

The landscape of Poland has changed a lot over the last 30 years. It used to be standard practice to raise cows and other animals on small farms. Currently, the food production system relies on large enterprises and huge farms. Unfortunately, the cows have also disappeared from Polish meadows and it is more and more difficult to see them.

Riding a bicycle 300 km in rural areas in Poland on vacation, I noticed as many as one cow grazing in the meadow. In Belgium, when I make a twenty-kilometer bicycle lap around my place of residence, I cannot count how many cows I encounter, there are so many of them. The cows here graze outdoors, chew the grass, and are certainly happier than those kept in confinement. Cheeses from cows grazed on the grass taste delicious.

Most meadows and pastures have also disappeared in Poland along with the cows. These areas have been transformed partly into building plots and, to a large extent, into arable lands, mainly monocultures, which, from an ecological point of view, are an exploitation of land and a threat to biodiversity.

When we think of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, we mainly mean forests, mentioned as the green lungs of the planet. Californian research at Devis University has shown that meadows, along with grasses and herbs, more effectively bind excess CO2, because they are able to retain carbon in the soil thanks to a rich root system. This is important because in the event of fires, carbon dioxide will not be lost back to the atmosphere, as it happens when huge tracts of forests are burning.

Accumulation of carbon in soil may be a response to excess CO2 and related climate change. Special agricultural procedures, called “carbon farming”, are developed to capture and sequester atmospheric carbon dioxide, which can be accumulated in plant material and soil in the form of organic matter. Meadow plants such as grasses, clovers and alfalfa, with well-developed root systems, support “carbon farming” – in Polish, coal farming.

So when you see a meadow and the cows grazing on it, you will know how important these green areas are for improving the climate.

Doubts and further questions

Some may get the impression that veg diets are ranked higher in the hierarchy today than the traditional model of nutrition that includes meat in the menu. Livestock and the meat processing industry are blamed for using a huge amount of energy to produce their products, but no one asks – how much does it cost to produce meat substitutes? Is their distribution to customers not polluting the environment? Do the raw materials for these products come from monoculture sprayed with pesticides or from small, local, organic farms? If we are comparing a particular nutrition model, assessing its impact on the planet, it is worth asking the same questions to the other party.

Bill Gates wants to feed us with vegetable meat, believing that in this way he will prevent climate change. But will a processed product from the factory, enriched with synthetic vitamins and minerals, be as nutritious as a natural product? Is this another experiment on humanity that Bill would like to conduct? Nobody knows what the health of many generations of people, whose mothers or grandmothers were vegan, will look like, and whether the next generations of vegans will be healthy. Not everyone responds well to a plant-based diet.

Is it a good idea to push for non-eating meat by plant activists who want the whole world to go veg, a proposal to levy taxes on meat? What would happen to people from poor countries who cannot afford a vegetable irrigation system, live in arid areas and their diets are largely based on animal products? If they were forbidden to keep a cow, goat or sheep in the pen, and their diet from the traditional one, which they grew up on for generations, had to change to 100% plant-based, then they would become dependent on the food supplied to them by rich countries that support the multi-hectare model. monoculture crops. Would it be more ethical than letting these people kill their animals and eat their flesh?

Man is part of nature

In nature, there is no hierarchy of values ​​when it comes to the type of food. There is hunger. There are predators who tear their prey to pieces, thus ensuring their survival.Vegetarians and vegans do not want to participate in the killing of farm animals, they have the right to do so, but let them be aware that in nature, the death of animals is not easy, quick and painless. Often animals are torn to pieces alive, such a death is not humane from a human point of view, but that’s how nature works.

If you are vegan for ethical reasons and do not want to contribute to the killing of animals, have you ever wondered how many grassland and field animals die when converting these lands into farmland and plantation? Is the death of hundreds of thousands of field rodents, hares, wild rabbits, and birds killed during the harvest less important than the death of farm animals? Perhaps you have never thought of these little wild animals by eating only plants.

Whether you are a veg or a carnivore, you have blood on your hands because no food production system is devoid of victims.

You may consider it unethical to kill cows or chickens, but do you remember how many insects, including useful bees, are killed by the farmer when spraying crops? Are these creatures less worthy of attention than farm animals? Is their life less valuable?

What would happen if soulless and profit-oriented corporations, farmers relying on monocultures, were replaced by people on a mission, local farmers who care about the biodiversity of plants and animals on their farms? Would not such a model of the coexistence of man and every other animal be better and healthier for the planet than what we have now?

In the multi-award winning documentary The Biggest Little Farm, these questions were answered. The film shows the story of the marriage of Molly and John Chester, who had to move out of the city of Los Angeles because their dog Todd made a merciless noise during their absence, arousing the resolute opposition of their neighbors. Molly decided to move to the countryside and set up a farm.

Apricot Lane Farms was established in ruins and degraded terrain. Molly and John, with the help of their friend, an expert on regenerative farming, brought this place back to life, all by nature’s law, because the farm was organic. The previously deserted areas were planted with thousands of fruit trees and inhabited by a variety of animals: chickens, ducks, cows, pigs, sheep, which made the barren land revive again.

I watched this movie with great commitment, buying online access to it for 2,99 euro and I could not hide my admiration for this type of venture. Amazing story! The film in Polish is entitled: “Our place on earth”. I highly recommend the screening.

If more farms like the one in the movie were created, if the agricultural production system changed from industrial – profit oriented to regenerative farming, perhaps there would be a chance for healthier food production with respect for nature and the right to live in decent conditions for all animals. If we were to buy our food locally without bringing it from another continent, environmental pollution and climate change could be reduced to some extent.

It is not just eating meat that threatens our planet

You can choose vegetable “meat” while still believing that you are thereby contributing to the planet’s climatic well-being, without realizing how disruptive it is to grow avocados or almonds from which you drink the “milk”. Or, you can choose products, including meat, from local farmers who care for the ecosystem and allow their animals to exercise their right to free-range.

We should not divide into the good ones – those who do not eat meat and bad carnivores. Every human being should, to some extent, care about supporting the initiative for the good of the Earth, no matter if we are veg or not.

In my city, a completely new system for collecting food waste has been introduced since this year, which is collected every two weeks and taken to farmers for compost. The idea is brilliant because the health of the soil is very valuable, and what nourishes it, instead of being dumped, is returned to it. If the great cities of the world went in this direction, perhaps it would be another step towards a better change of the world.

Each of us is able to do even small things so as not to pollute the planet excessively. You may have given up eating meat for the sake of the climate, but you order most items online and have them delivered to your door, so transporting them poisons the environment. Do you go on long journeys a few times a year like millions of other people in the world? Would you be able to give it up for the sake of the planet? Do you use reusable cloth nets when you buy vegetables or do you still load your purchases into plastic scraps? Do you buy local products or products imported from distant countries? Such questions could be endlessly multiplied, and large corporations should also be asking themselves! As you can see, it is not just eating meat that contributes to the deterioration of the climate, as mainstream media try to convince us.

Eat Meat. Save The Planet!

What kind of «meat» you choose is a private matter. Vegetable alternatives can be tasty too, because I tried Beyond Meat myself and found it OK, I also like smoked tofu. You can believe that by not eating meat, you are caring for the environment, despite the information that I have provided, that this is not always true. Perhaps you don’t feel like eating meat because you don’t like it – you have a right to eat meat – eat vegetables, enjoy it. As a vegetarian with twenty years of experience, I have now decided to eat more beef, especially than animals grazing on the grass, I also have the right to change my views.

I hope that, despite the difference in diet, we can talk about these topics without unnecessary aggression and forcing our opinion. In the book «Above beliefs. Vegans, vegetarians and carnivores at the same table »author Melanie Joy, a specialist in interpersonal relations and food psychology, encourages cultural dialogue on even the most difficult topics, despite our differences. If you are interested in this article, you have your thoughts and comments, feel free to express your opinion. I would love to hear your opinion on the points I raised.

Źródła:

• The book “Sacred Cow” by Diana Rodgers and Robb Wolffilm documentary: “The Biggest Little Farm”,
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdtvsHgsnPo&t=26s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6m-XlPnqxI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHIrbyd-5yo
• https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/bill-gates-fake-meat/
• https://dzikiezycie.pl/archiwum/2019/pazdziernik-2019/sztuczna-zywnosc-sztuczne-mieso-nastepny-krok-w-historii-zywnosciowego-imperializmu
• https://www.sacredcow.info/
• Https://www.bezpluga.pl/wiadomosci/kalifornia-uzytki-zielone-zatrzymuja-wiecej-co2-niz-drzewa,97203.html
• Https://www.bezpluga.pl/wiadomosci/rolnictwo-regeneracyjne-sposob-na-zdrowa-glebe-i-srodowisko,90873.html
• Http://naturanapokolenia.pl/ekosystemy-laki/
• Http://agroserwis.biz.pl/monokultura-w-rolnictwa-wady-i-zalety-upraw-plantacyjnych/
• https://savory.global/dispatch-from-the-chihuahuan-desert-grasslands/
• https://swiatoze.pl/awokado-dobre-w-smaku-ale-zle-dla-srodowiska-czy-wiesz-dlaczego/
• https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/20/insectageddon-farming-catastrophe-climate-breakdown-insect-populations
• Https://www.radiowroclaw.pl/articles/view/52087/Przysmaki-Dalajlamy-dania-pary-krolewskiej-i-polskich-prezydentow