235
Meat is a leading emissions source – but few outlets report on it, analysis finds
(www.theguardian.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
235 points (95.7% liked)
Climate - truthful information about climate, related activism and politics.
7393 readers
345 users here now
Discussion of climate, how it is changing, activism around that, the politics, and the energy systems change we need in order to stabilize things.
As a starting point, the burning of fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent deforestation and release of methane are responsible for the warming in recent decades:
How much each change to the atmosphere has warmed the world:
Recommended actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the near future:
Anti-science, inactivism, and unsupported conspiracy theories are not ok here.
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
If you look at the source of the data for emissions it's unclear that it's all from meat production: https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions-food
Even if we take at face value that meat accounts for 60% of industrial agriculture emissions, as a proportion of total emissions that is still only 0.6 * 26% = ~16%. It's sizable, but perhaps we should be addressing the elephants in the room, in the "non-food" section, first.
We need both
The other emissions are providing necessary value and not strictly producing what amounts to a luxury product. Cars move people, clothes need to be made, resources need to be shipped across the globe, etc... Yeah you can have deeper discussions about how to trim them down but that's a clean, easy 16% that could be won basically tomorrow.
Do you think say perhaps AI emissions are less of a luxury product than food?
As wasteful as our AI usage is it still has a function that couldn't be substituted. There's no other tool that could be used for, say, a certain subset of public health analysis or massive archival projects or image analysis.
Granted if we were using it in only those cases we'd need a fraction of the capacity. But the emissions we'd cut are much, much smaller than the savings from the meat industry. Last I checked all US datacenters (not just AI) were less than 3% of emissions. Building and running a computer isn't as disruptive as constantly moving millions of tons of meat + feed + equipment and minutae.
Commercial meat is a luxury because it can be entirely replaced by other calories + nutrients + supplements. And this is just a discussion on emissions but the other benefits of going meatless are just as notable (eg: agriculture is the #1 cause of ecosystem collapse; large public health benefits)
This is a take I've never heard before, it's not how I think luxury goods are defined, and I'm now genuinely curious as to what you consider a luxury product. Do you think that eating some chicken is the same as wearing a Hermes handbag, or driving a Lamborghini?
This reads to me like it cannot be replaced without supplementation, which seems to be a critical flaw for people who are unable to supplement. I'm also of the opinion that calories are not a useful measure for nutrition, since our bodies are not bomb calorimeters.
A luxury is something pleasant or enjoyable but not strictly necessary. It's not a matter of how much more enjoyable it is but just that it can be functionally replaced (Lambo -> Toyota Corolla; Designer bag -> any other bag; Meat -> Plant proteins). Unless there's some rare medical condition that prevents eating anything but animal proteins, we have the means to replace it (as a massive commercial industry at the very least).
WRT alternative diets it really depends on what you replace it with. I believe there are technically some entirely vegan diets without supplements but if you're buying your meat from the store you could just as easily buy supplements from the same place and not worry about it.
I went meatless recently and even as an unabashed meat lover it really wasn't that bad. Vegan/vegetarian meat substitutes have advanced a ton in the past few years when I do get the craving, but I don't notice a day-to-day difference. The main annoyances have been limited restaurant menus and rebuilding my recipe catalog.
I see, so your definition of luxury good is "something that can be functionally replaced." I was thinking of the economic definition.
I don't think meat to be functionally replaceable with plant proteins. Heme-iron alone makes it very difficult to do, since iron from plants is far less bioavailable. What does a vegan diet do for Vitamin B12? Conspicuous consumption is not necessary for survival, but B12 very much is.
Changes from nutrition can take a long time to become manifest. I wish you longevity and good health.
IIRC there is exactly one variety of lentil that can supply B12, but otherwise it's mass produced via bacteria fermentation. At a certain age, most doctors recommend a daily vitamin supplement anyway so it's really a matter checking a few labels before you pick one to make sure your multivitamin matches your meatless diet.
I appreciate the well wishes, my doctor is already much happier with my visits 😂
Vegans often supplement harder to obtain nutrients, B12 and bioavailable Iron is very cheap and easily obtained, so it's usually not an issue.
The problematic nutrients are B12, D and Omega-3.
Food specifically for vegans such as plant milk is usually fortified with B12 and D. Vitamin D can also be gotten by touching grass. Linseed is a good Omega-3 source.
To quote my own comment on this post: