Saving the World One Diet at a Time

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We need food to grow, live and be healthy, but have you ever considered that the food we eat to sustain ourselves could harm the world? Not all the foods we consume are bad for the planet, but many are. According to an article from nutrition.org, foods like grains, beans, vegetables and fruits are better for us and the Earth. However, foods like dairy, meat, fish and eggs have a negative impact on the environment.

Animal-sourced foods are more harmful for the environment than plant-based foods because of the amount of greenhouse gases released while producing them. Livestock is grown in large commercial farms, processed in high-volume factories and shipped across the country in refrigerated trucks. All of these processes require a great deal of energy, and they produce vast amounts of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide and methane.

According to Dr. Rachel Berndtson, the assistant director of academic programs for University of Maryland’s Department of Geographical Sciences, “We need to think holistically about how these products are made, and this includes everything from the feed for the animals, to the animals' on-farm impacts, to the shipping and packaging of the final product.” She further explained how raising animals instead of cultivating plants is causing runoff and damage to the land. This leads to a lot of water waste and less land for plants, which means less water and food for human consumption.

Berndtson said that greenhouse gases have many dangerous effects on the environment; they contribute to global warming, which results in increasing sea levels, decreasing snow covers and the destruction of ecosystems. Furthermore, greenhouse gases can give rise to financial problems, poverty and disease. These effects impact people living in developing countries more than people living in developed countries. In developing countries, fossil fuels are an essential part of the economy and way of life. Carbon gas-producing fossil fuels are primarily used for cooking, heating and transportation.

Tucker Davey, a journalist for Future of Life Institute, explained in an article that developing countries’ main concern is feeding themselves and their large families, and burning coal is the easiest way to do that, as it allows them to cook. Burning coal is also easy, reliable and inexpensive compared to “eco-friendly” alternatives such as solar, wind or biofuel.

This is not just a problem for people in developing countries, but for many students as well. We have so much to do in a day – from exams to assignments, papers and sometimes even work – that food can become an afterthought, and for many of us, eating the cheapest thing we can find seems to be the best option.

“My current eating habits are just to eat what is practical, cheap, and what is available in the diner,” said Hannah Pariso, a senior dietetics student.

Healthier options cost more because more human input is usually needed to produce them, plus it doesn’t yield the same amount of food as would be made in a factory. A cow that eats only grass will not produce as much milk as a cow fed corn in a factory, so the standard milk will be cheaper even though grass-fed is safer for the environment because it produces fewer greenhouse gases. It can be frustrating to go grocery shopping because most healthy foods are costly due to livestock that is bred free-range or grass-fed cow’s milk. For instance, at Target, grass-fed milk is $5.99 and whole milk is $1.98. It would make sense financially to buy whole milk even though the grass-fed option is better for the environment.

One way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help protect the environment is to follow a more plant-based diet. A study in Italy compared the effects of different diets on the environment. These diets included an omnivorous diet adhering to the 2005 dietary guidelines set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, an organic omnivorous diet, a vegetarian diet, an organic vegetarian diet, a vegan diet, an organic vegan diet and a person who doesn’t follow a particular diet. The diets that contained more fruits and vegetables were not only healthier for the body, but also better for the environment.

Emily Lempka, a junior Germanic studies major, said, “About a year ago I became a vegetarian because the raising and production of meat is not good for the environment, and I do not wish to support the factory farming industry.” Other students, like Zahra Aligabi, a senior neurophysiology major, have reduced the amount of meat that they consume to help the environment. “I will have red meat from time to time but not as often, and even less now that I know its impact on the environment,” Aligabi said.

Research has proven that what we choose to eat affects the environment because it contributes to greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. We need to find ways to eat that will benefit the Earth and ourselves but that are also affordable for the masses.