Animal-based food systems come with a huge carbon footprint. And we can’t just blame it on cow farts and sheep burps. Livestock production expends heaps of energy at every level: crops are grown and converted into feed for animals, which are then consumed themselves — instead of feeding consumers the plant-based food directly.
And a new study adds credence to the environmental benefits of going vegan. The study, published in Nature Food, reveals that vegan diets use 54% less water and contribute to 66% less biodiversity loss.
“It’s an important piece of work,” Diego Rose, a nutrition researcher at Tulane University, told WPLN News.
Rose published a study with similar findings in April 2023, after analyzing the carbon footprints of six types of diets: omnivore, vegetarian, pescatarian, vegan, keto-style, and paleo-style.
The nutritionist found that vegan diets had 40% less greenhouse gas emissions than vegetarian diets, 60% less than pescatarian, and 70% less than omnivore diets.
“Even accounting for changes in practices around the world, it’s still the case that eating less meat is better for the planet,” Rose said.
Globally, more and more people are considering going vegan — or at least adopting more plant-based food in their diet. Although surveys vary on the popularity of veganism, consumer sales tell a different story. Between 2017 and 2023, U.S. retail sales of plant-based foods jumped from $3.9 billion to $8.1 billion.
Rose sees it as a promising step forward.
“We, all of us, need to change our diets to be able to meet our climate objectives,” Rose said.
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2025 Food Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
Header image via Vanessa Loring
