Wednesday, 20 January 2016 11:41

Save the planet, eat meat

Written by 

The Hound had a bit of a giggle when he saw a recent US study that reveals a diet heavy in some fruit and vegetables does the planet more harm than eating meat.

The study, published in the Environment Systems and Decisions journal, flies in the face of recent calls for humans to reduce meat consumption in a bid to help stem climate change. So just when we are told by tree huggers that eating truckloads of vegetables is the best way to help the environment, researchers from Carnegie Mellon University have found lettuce was "over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon". The research group studied the impact per calorie of different foods against energy costs, water usage and emissions.

More like this

Additional land needed to feed the same number of people

OPINION: Eight point two billion people on the planet. Ten point three billion exported by 2084 (according to the latest United Nations' projections). And it is our role as farmers and growers in the food system to feed them. We need to do this as sustainably as possible, but the primary goal must be food production.

Ripe Wanaka named NZ’s top sustainable event

The waste-free Ripe Wanaka Wine and Food Festival won Sustainability Event of the Year at the New Zealand Events Association Awards this year, while Festival Director Nathan White was named Emerging Event Professional of the Year.

Featured

Editorial: Indian FTA is great news

OPINION: Trade Minister Todd McClay and the trade negotiator in government have presented Kiwis with an amazing gift for 2026 - a long awaited and critical free trade deal with India.

National

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

The bow-tie effect

OPINION: If the hand-wringing, cravat and bow-tie wearing commentariat of a left-leaning persuasion had any influence on global markets, we'd…

Famous last words

OPINION: With Winston Peters playing politics with the PM's Indian FTA, all eyes will be on Labour who have the…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter