Is having a vegan diet as environmentally friendly as you think?

Vegandiet is fast becoming very popular with challenges such as Veganuary seeing people joining in in drives, and also many food chains starting their vegan range. As per The Independentthe number of people practicing veganism has imploded all over the world with millions of people going vegan, but we should not be too quick to link veganism with being always environmentally friendly...

Issues with production

One of the main reasoning behind the Independent's claims lies on where most of the food that veganism has made popular comes from. It cites the examples of avocados and quinoa, which are imported from Mexico, Kenya and Australia, whose popularity has been creating pricing issues in the very countries where they are produced.

Huge water use by some crops

According to Bio Friendly Planet, there are a lot of crops which have become very popular as part of vegan diets, which use a huge amount of water. For example, a single avocado needs 60 gallons of water, which is 4 times the amount needed for oranges.

Similarly, walnuts, cashews and almonds also need huge amount of water. The popularity of plant-based milks from these crops has also increased the amount of water use.

Plant-based diet still has a smaller carbon footprint

In spite of the problems with some water-guzzling crops, it has been reported by Bio Friendly Planet and The Guardianthat plant-based diet still has a smaller carbon footprint than any diet which includes animal products. As per The Guardian, about 35% of greenhouse gas which is bad for the environment, is caused by food production but the meat industry is responsible for more than twice the pollution caused by fruits, grains and greens combined.

Focus needs to be on ‘home-grown’ and locally-sourced food

The Independent cites that a way to circumvent the quagmire of environmentally unsustainable consumption of vegan food, is by focusing on sourcing foods locally.

The report cites that plant-based diets and consuming foods according to seasonality have been two growing trends. By consuming locally sourced food and seasonally grown produce, you can reduce the carbon foot-print caused by import and transportation of food over long distances.

As The Guardian states that embracing a diet with less-meat is still environmentally beneficial even if one does not become a full fledged vegan. In spite of not being as environmentally friendly as one might expect, plant-based diet is still better for the planet than others.

Read more:

⋙ Tesco’s ‘non-vegan’ oranges are getting the supermarket into hot water

⋙ Vegan: Town to only offer plant-based meals, the first in Europe to sign Plant Based Treaty

⋙ Is olive oil really a vegan friendly product?