The Double Benefit of Eating Fewer Animal Products

Abstract

Scientists around the world have been studying how the food we eat impacts the planet. The demand for animal products, especially meat and milk, creates a lot of greenhouse gas emissions that heat our world. In rich countries, people often eat more animal-based foods than needed, which can be bad for people’s health. So, eating more plants can reduce climate change while also making our bodies healthier. Eating more plants would also save huge areas of land, which is another benefit for the climate. This is because 75–80% of all the world’s farming land is used to produce animal products. If we ate more plants, we could give this land back to nature or make new nature parks that would draw greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. More natural land would also mean more plants and animals could make their homes in these parks, and humans would have more places to play and explore.