A Meatless Diet Is Better for You—And the Planet

Scientific American, July 14, 2023

by Sarah C. Hull, assistant professor of medicine, and associate director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics, Yale School of Medicine.

The idea that we need to eat meat to get enough protein and iron, a false assumption of some Paleo diet acolytes, is a common misconception. It ignores the abundance of protein and iron in many plant-based foods such as nuts, seeds and legumes. Similarly, consuming dairy is not necessary to obtain adequate dietary calcium, as this mineral is abundant in soy, lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, grains, leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables.

Likewise, while we typically associate omega-3 fatty acids with fish, fish themselves incorporate these into their tissue by eating algae and seaweed, which we can consume directly without the concerns of exposure to accumulated mercury and microplastics in fish flesh. Indeed, a whole-food, plant-based diet can provide all essential nutrients except for vitamin B12, which is made by bacteria in soil and ingested by animals, thereby incorporated into their tissue, milk, and eggs. While modern sanitation allows humans to consume clean produce uncontaminated by dirt or feces, we can easily and cheaply obtain oral B12 supplements.

Furthermore, significantly reducing our consumption of meat would carry vast benefits. As cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death around the world, poor diet has now surpassed tobacco smoking as the top risk factor for death in the U.S, where life expectancy has now stagnated, in large part because of a plateau in mortality from cardiovascular disease. Eating highly processed foods and red meat has been repeatedly demonstrated to promote underlying mechanisms of cancer and cardiovascular disease, such as inflammation and damage to the lining of blood vessels.

Mounting evidence points to the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet. A meta-analysis of scientific studies from 2017 found that a vegetarian diet is associated with a 25 percent relative risk reduction for coronary heart disease and an 8 percent relative risk reduction for cancer, with a vegan diet conferring a 15 percent relative risk reduction for cancer. The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified processed meat as carcinogenic, and (unprocessed) red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans. Finally, randomized controlled trials have also demonstrated the benefits of a Mediterranean diet (essentially a whole-food, plant-predominant diet) in both the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease, with enhanced benefits from greater adherence to a provegetarian (more plant-based) dietary pattern.

In addition to harming ourselves, eating meat harms others. Factory farming practices often entail unspeakable cruelty to animals, and working conditions for human laborers are often unsafe and inhumane as well. Overcrowding of livestock and workers promotes the spread of disease among both people and animals, putting us all at risk for future pandemics. The overuse of “routine” antibiotics to accelerate animal growth and preemptively treat the infections anticipated as a result of living in unclean and overcrowded conditions can promote antibiotic resistance. Finally, meat consumption contributes to climate change though deforestation and methane emissions. Food systems make up a third of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activity, and animal-based foods contribute twice the emissionsof plant-based foods. Switching from the typical Western diet to a vegetarian diet can reduce one’s personal dietary carbon emissions by 30 percent; a strict vegan diet can reduce them by as much as 85 percent….

[… Read more at Scientific American]

September 11, 2023

Hundreds of academics call for 100% plant-based meals at UK universities

Damian Carrington, The Guardian, Sept. 4, 2023

fight the climate crisis, saying that the institutions have “for centuries, been shining lights of intellectual, moral, and scientific progress”.

The open letter, organised by the student-led Plant-Based Universities campaign, likened the move to meat-free food to the fossil fuel divestment to which 101 UK universities have already committed.

Cutting meat consumption in rich nations is vital to tackling the climate crisis, with scientists saying it is the single biggest way for people to reduce their impact on the planet.

The letter, sent to UK university vice-chancellors, catering managers, and student union presidents, said: “We are acutely aware – as you must be too – of the climate and ecological crises; not only this but we are also mindful that animal farming and fishing are leading drivers of them.

“Most universities have declared a climate emergency, with many taking steps such as fossil fuel divestment. [Students] deserve to know that their universities are actively working to create a future for them to graduate into.”….

The Plant-Based Universities campaign is active in more than 50 universities. To date, the student unions’ at Birmingham, University College London, Stirling, and Queen Mary universities have voted to phase in 100% plant-based menus.

Related votes also have passed at Cambridge, Kent and London Metropolitan universities. Votes at Edinburgh and Warwick universities did not pass. The University of Cambridge removed beef and lamb from the menus of its 14 catering outlets in 2016, “dramatically reducing food-related carbon emissions”.

Chris Packham said: “The student campaigners of Plant-Based Universities are making incredible changes in their institutions and it’s only right to see hundreds of academics stepping up to support them.”

In 2020, A powerful coalition of the UK’s health professions said the climate crisis could not be solved without action to cut the consumption of high-emission food such as red meat, and that sustainable diets were healthier.

Public sector caterers serving billions of meals a year in schools, universities, hospitals and care homes also pledged in 2020 to cut the amount of meat they serve by 20%. In 2021, a government-commissioned national food strategyrecommended cutting meat consumption by nearly a third.

[… Read more at The Guardian]

August 17, 2023

These 2 College Cafés Just Made Oat Milk the Default

Dairy is no longer the default at these on-campus cafés, following a larger oat milk trend at coffee chains such as Blue Bottle and Stumptown.

Jamie Evan Bichelman, VegNews, April 25, 2023
Gen Z is leading a transcendent shift in plant-based food consumption. This is particularly evident in the plant-based milk category where the demographic consumes five times more than any prior generation. This means that in college, Zoomers are reaching for anything but cow’s milk for their coffee. So how are campuses keeping up?

At the University of San Diego, award-winning coffeehouse Aromas is now the first known on-campus café in the country to offer oat milk by default.

“The ‘Oat Milk Initiative’ was one of the winning ideas from the 2021 Changemaker Challenge, a social innovation competition focused on ways to make our campus more sustainable and inclusive,” Juan Carlos Rivas, PhD, Director of Social Change and Student Engagement for the Changemaker HUB at USD, tells VegNews…

[… Read more at VegNews]

August 17, 2023August 17, 2023

Vegan diet massively cuts environmental damage, study shows

Detailed analysis finds plant diets lead to 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use than meat-rich ones

Damian Carrington, The Guardian, July 20, 2023

Eating a vegan diet massively reduces the damage to the environment caused by food production, the most comprehensive analysis to date has concluded.

The research showed that vegan diets resulted in 75% less climate-heating emissions, water pollution and land use than diets in which more than 100g of meat a day was eaten. Vegan diets also cut the destruction of wildlife by 66% and water use by 54%, the study found.

The heavy impact of meat and dairy on the planet is well known, and people in rich nations will have to slash their meat consumption in order to end the climate crisis. But previous studies have used model diets and average values for the impact of each food type.

In contrast, the new study analysed the real diets of 55,000 people in the UK. It also used data from 38,000 farms in 119 countries to account for differences in the impact of particular foods that are produced in different ways and places. This significantly strengthens confidence in the conclusions.

However, it turned out that what was eaten was far more important in terms of environmental impacts than where and how it was produced. Previous research has shown that even the lowest-impact meat – organic pork – is responsible for eight times more climate damage than the highest-impact plant, oilseed.

The researchers said the UK should introduce policies to help people reduce the amount of meat they eat in order to meet the nation’s climate targets. Ministers have repeatedly said they will not tell people what to consume, despite the precedent of, for example, taxes on high-sugar drinks.

Prof Peter Scarborough at Oxford University, who led the research, published in the journal Nature Food, said: “Our dietary choices have a big impact on the planet. Cutting down the amount of meat and dairy in your diet can make a big difference to your dietary footprint.”

The global food system has a huge impact on the planet, emitting a third of the total greenhouse gas emissions driving global heating. It also uses 70% of the world’s freshwater and causes 80% of river and lake pollution. About 75% of the Earth’s land is used by humans, largely for farming, and the destruction of forests is the major cause of the huge losses in biodiversity.

Prof Neil Ward at the University of East Anglia said: “This is a significant set of findings. It scientifically reinforces the point made by the Climate Change Committee and the National Food Strategy over recent years that dietary shifts away from animal-based foods can make a major contribution to reducing the UK’s environmental footprint.”…

[… Read more at The Guardian]

See original study: Scarborough et al, “Vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters in the UK show discrepant environmental impacts,” Nature Food 4 (565–574), 2023

May 11, 2023

What To Consider When Asking Institutions To Shift How They Serve Food

A guest blog from Greener By Default explores and explains the process of getting institutions to consider menu changes and plant-based defaults.

Sarah Thorson & Ilana Braverman , Faunalytics, May 10, 2023

Food choices are extremely personal. They’re informed by our culture, upbringing, education, ethics, and more. For some, food serves as a time capsule keeping familial and cultural history alive, while for others it’s an outward expression of morals and values. Food choices can also be restricted by bodily responses, religious affiliation, and financial realities. And when we work to shift food norms, all of these considerations have to be taken into account to realize widespread change.

For animal advocates working to shift food norms, it can be tempting to ask for the elimination of meat and dairy from menus and diets, since we want to improve the lives of all living beings. But human behavior is complex, and people may respond negatively to a drastic change which they feel is forced upon them. And, with meat consumption still on the rise in the US, psychological research shows that appeals to reduce meat consumption have stronger and longer lasting impacts on eating behaviors than appeals to eliminate meat consumption completely. Serving plant-based meals by default works to accomplish both: preserving freedom of choice, while nudging consumers towards sparing the lives of many animals and lessening food’s overall impact on the environment.

Fostering Inclusivity In Foodservice

Greener by Default (GBD) consults with institutions, including universities, conferences, hospitals, and corporate cafeterias, to serve plant-based meals by default. The default is the option an individual ends up with when they don’t make an active choice. For example, every iPhone user is familiar with the brand’s default ringtone, which most of us don’t bother to change. People tend to stick with defaults partly because it’s one less decision to make, and partly because defaults are often seen as the more socially acceptable option. Because of this tendency, defaults and other behavioral nudges can be used to encourage particular food choices; research shows that implementing plant-based defaults can decrease meat consumption by 53% to 87%, depending on the environment.

With help from GBD, LinkedIn San Francisco was able to switch their menus to serve 65% veg options in the cafeteria and make oat milk the default choice for milk-based drinks in their coffee bar. GBD was also instrumental in helping NYC Health and Hospitals transition their patient meals to serve plant-based meals by default, resulting in over half of eligible patients now choosing plant-based meals. This approach leads to more plant-based options being selected, thus saving many animal lives, while also shifting food paradigms by normalizing plant-based eating. Best of all, because freedom of choice is preserved and there are still meat options available for those who want or feel they need meat at every meal, this approach does not encounter the same type of pushback as fully meatless menus….

[… Read more at Faunalytics]

May 11, 2023

Let’s make plant-based foods the default on campus

A ‘default veg’ position on campus food is one way that universities can respond to the climate crisis.

Kathleen Kevany, University Affairs, Oct. 13, 2022

What can universities do to respond to the climate crisis? Our most obvious contributions may come from research and teaching across a range of disciplines: from ecology to the environmental humanities, from engineering to economics and beyond, scholars working in labs and classrooms are trying to mitigate the complex, urgent issues we face.

Yet universities are also much more than engines of research and education. They are societies in themselves, as well as cultural and economic drivers for the broader communities in which they are embedded. The contributions that the students, staff, and faculty who are gathered in universities can offer – and the leadership they can provide – come from many directions.

One critical change that is relatively accessible and affordable and more importantly, more equitable, is to adopt a “default veg” practice. This means changing the current practice of emphasizing meat dishes, to placing the spotlight on plant-based foods on our campuses, while still enabling the full range of dietary choices to be met.

Fulfilling our responsibilities to lead change

We know we need more sustainable food habits. The famous EAT-Lancet report demonstrated that largely plant-based, sustainable diets protect human health and our environments. We are enjoined to “eat local,” to cut food waste, and perhaps above all, to reduce our consumption of meat. The most recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change offered yet more evidence that animal agriculture is among the top contributors to our environmental crisis. Deforestation, soil degradation, habitat and biodiversity loss, animal emissions and waste all compound to make animal agriculture a driving force in global warming, just behind fossil fuel consumption. Even as we seek to limit our use of environmentally destructive fuels to fight climate change, so too must we rebalance our diets.

We also know that universities can be leaders when it comes to sustainability. I teach at Dalhousie University, where signature research clusters are grounded in the United Nation’s Sustainability Development Goals. Over 30 years ago, Dalhousie hosted a gathering of university leaders who committed to the Halifax Declaration. Echoing an earlier agreement signed in Talloires, France by university leaders from around the world, the agreement made at Dalhousie in 1991 espoused concrete goals and lofty aspirations to direct teaching, research, outreach, and operations toward an equitable and sustainable future. Both declarations affirmed not just the risks to our planet’s integrity but also the urgent responsibilities of universities to lead change….

[… Read more at University Affairs ]

May 9, 2023

Universities should lead on the plant-based dietary transition

Jochen Krattenmacher, Paula Casal, Jan Dutkiewicz, Elise Huchard, Edel Sanders, Nicolas Treich, et al., The Lancet, May 2023

As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the EAT–Lancet Commission have pointed out in recent reports, substantial reductions in demand for animal-based foods are vital for achieving climate targets and for keeping food production within planetary limits. One might expect universities to heed such findings and adjust their food procurement accordingly, especially since they contributed to the research on which these reports are based. However, one only needs to visit a typical university canteen to find that this is not the case. This routine observation is confirmed by studies that have found animal-based food to contribute disproportionately to the environmental footprint of universities compared with plant-based food, and substantially so.

Even when leaving aside the contribution of animal-based food production to climate change, the case for shifting to alternatives, mostly plant-based foods, remains strong. Although impacts differ between different animal products, most economically significant animal-based food production contributes disproportionately to multiple, often all, of the following predicaments: the degradation and overexploitation of ecosystems, misallocation of water and land, risk of pandemics, air and water pollution, and animal suffering. These are all issues that, we the authors assume, most academics and students do not want to contribute to unnecessarily. By procuring different kinds of foods, universities could achieve reductions in many of these negative effects. By doing so, universities could even save money. They also might promote healthier diets among their students and personnel, especially if they emphasise the healthiest kinds of plant-based foods….

[… Read more at The Lancet]

May 9, 2023

How Campus Cafeterias Became Hotspots for Climate Action

Jack McGovan, Sentient Media, May 2, 2023

When Guherbar Gorgulu arrived to study at Erasmus University Rotterdam, she was surprised by the many plant-based options.

“In Turkey, you don’t really have a lot of vegan options,” she says, not to mention many people interested in talking about the impact of what they eat. “I really didn’t have a community of people who also cared about animal rights and the environment.”

That all changed when Gorgulu started attending weekly vegan cooking workshops hosted by the Erasmus Sustainability Hub — a student-led organization encouraging students to lead more sustainable lifestyles. Inspired to join the Hub as Food and Agriculture Manager, Gorgulu, along with her colleagues, have been active in fighting for climate action on campus. Initiatives include workshops, discussions and petitions to demand fully plant-based cafeterias.

The work seems to be paying off. In February, the university announced that they are aiming to make plant-based foods the norm on campus by 2030. The goal is part of the university’s climate commitments; animal agriculture is responsible for around 20 percent of global emissions, and is also a leading cause of habitat loss.

Change is happening beyond Rotterdam. A dozen universities across the U.S. joined an incubator program this year to provide more plant-based foods on their campuses, and across the UK, student unions in Cambridge, Stirling, Birmingham and London voted in support of vegan menus this academic year. In 2021, universities across the entire city of Berlin went predominantly meat-free….

[… Read more at Sentient Media]

May 4, 2023May 4, 2023

Chefs from Ontario universities train to cater to student demands for plant-based foods

At Western in London, for instance, 40% of student residence menus will be plant based by January

Michelle Both, CBC News, May 4, 2023

chef in black shirt flips pumpkin seeds on a pan — Andrew DuHasky is the the unit chef Western University’s Ontario Hall residence. (Michelle Both/CBC)

That’s what chefs from Ontario universities did when they gathered at Western’s Saugeen-Maitland residence this week in London for a culinary training program aimed at ramping up plant-based choices at student residences.

Instead of the standard pulled pork, for instance, sandwiches with shreds of soy-ginger jackfruit — a tropical tree fruit that, if prepared just right, tastes like pulled pork — were among the menu offerings as the get-together wrapped up with a catered lunch.

Twenty-four chefs took part in Humane Society International’s Food Forward program, to explore and experiment with vegan cooking, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Other participating schools included the University of Guelph, University of Windsor and Hamilton’s McMaster University.

The food is getting rave reviews.

Glenn Dupont, a chef at Western’s Elgin Hall residence, said he was never a big fan of chickpeas, but that all changed when he made chickpea and walnut sliders during the training.

“I really would actually make this for myself and my family,” said Dupont, who typically sticks to meat and potatoes at home. “It tastes absolutely excellent.”…

[… Read more at CBC News]

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May 4, 2023May 4, 2023

Vegan Ultra-Runner Wins Zion 100KM Desert Trail Race

Austin Meyer has been vegan for five years

Amy Buxton, PlantBased News, April 28, 2023

Vegan athlete and runner Austin Meyer running at sunset during the Zion 100km ultra-marathon Vegan ultra-runner Austin Meyer took first place at the Zion Ultra 100km (62 mile) race on April 15, finishing in just over 10 hours (10:07:53).

The ultramarathon saw athletes racing around the Zion National Park in Utah, in the shadows of towering sandstone cliffs. Considered a difficult route, only experienced ultra-runners with a half-ultramarathon already under their belt were eligible to compete.

Meyer – a documentary filmmaker and photographer – completed the run with support from both his partner and coach. Upon finishing the race, he took to social media to thank event organizers, and express gratitude for the opportunity to learn more about himself during the run.

Ultra-running as a vegan

Discussing his five years as a vegan, Meyer notes that it is now fundamental to his training. Moreover, it plays a crucial part in everything he does before, during, and after a race.

“On the physical side, ultrarunning is a very demanding sport. Training becomes a cycle of physical stress and recovery, the quality of which are the variables that determine how much I can grow and improve as an athlete,” Meyer told Plant Based News.

“Eating a plant-based whole foods diet has allowed me to increase physical stress in training, and simultaneously, recover faster. This is due in part to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the food, which lead to reduced muscle damage.”

In recent years, the fitness and health benefits of plant-based nutrition have become more widely understood. If animal protein was once considered the only option for serious contenders, a slew of vegan athletes now challenge the misconception, many of whom seek to crush outmoded stereotypes….

[… Read more at PlantBased News ]