A diet with meat is responsible for producing in a year the same
amount of greenhouse gases as driving a mid-sized car 4,758
kilometres (2,956 miles), the Institute for Ecological Economy
Research (IOeW) said.
But the food a vegetarian consumes in 12 months is responsible for
generating the same emissions as driving 2,427 kilometres, the IOeW
said in a study commissioned by independent consumer protection
group Foodwatch.
The calculations are based on emissions of greenhouse gases,
including methane produced by the animals themselves, as well as
emissions from food production including manufacturing feed and
fertiliser and the use of farmland.
Going vegan -- giving up meat and dairy products -- would cut the
emissions released in making what you eat more than seven-fold, to
the equivalent of driving 629 kilometres, it said.
And if it is all organic, your food footprint is almost a 17th of
that of a meat-eater -- the equivalent of driving 281
kilometres.
Beef is particularly environmentally unfriendly, it said, with
producing a kilo (2.2 pounds) the same as driving 71 kilometres
compared with 26 kilometres for pork.
Switching to organic farming can cut emissions dramatically, "but
what counts is the way we feed ourselves ... production and
consumption first and foremost of beef and milk must be cut
drastically," the study said.