A new study by Oxford University has concluded that eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables will not only prevent several million deaths by 2050, it could cut planet-warming emissions substantially, and save billions of dollars annually in health care costs and climate change.
Photo credit: Wisconsin Public Radio
Understandably, you might be apprehensive about removing all animal products from your diet, but you can’t argue with the scientifically validated benefits – for health, the environment, and the animals – of doing so.
In 2010, the UN released a report revealing that a vegan diet is the best way to prevent global emissions from worsening climate change. And now, a study from Oxford University relays that by eating less meat and more fruit and vegetables, the world could prevent several million deaths per year by 2050, cut planet-warming emissions substantially, and save billions of dollars annually in healthcare costs and climate damage.
The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is the first to estimate both the health and climate change impacts of a global move towards a more plant-based diet, reports Reuters.
Said Marco Springmann, lead author of the Oxford Martin Program on the Future of Food: “We do not expect everybody to become vegan, but climate change impacts of the food system will be hard to tackle and likely require more than just technological changes. Adopting healthier and more environmentally sustainable diets can be a large step in the right direction.”
Four different diets were taken into account by the Oxford University researchers: a ‘business as usual’ scenario; one that follows global guidelines including minimum amounts of fruits and vegetables and limits on red meat, sugar, and total calories; a vegetarian diet; and a vegan diet.
Profound observations were documented. The researchers determined that a diet in line with the global guidelines could avert 5.1 million deaths per year by 2050 while 8.1 million fewer human deaths would result in a world of vegans who do not consume animal products, including eggs and milk.
Regarding climate change, it was found that following dietary recommendations would cut food-relation emissions by 29 percent, adopting vegetarian diets would cut them by 63%, and following a vegan diet would cut emissions by 70%.
In addition, a savings of $700 billion to $1 trillion could be saved annually on healthcare, unpaid care and lost working days. The researchers state that the economic value of health improvements could be comparable with, and possibly larger than, the value of the prevented damage from climate change.
With reduced greenhouse gas emissions, the economic benefit could be as much as $570 billion.
Said Springman:“The value of those benefits makes a strong case for increased public and private spending on programs aimed to achieve healthier and more environmentally sustainable diets.”
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