A study has been done at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania about the impact of different foods on the environment.
And guess what?! Turns out that the recommendations to decrease red meat, and incorporate more fruit and veggies, might not be so correct after all.
The researchers found that eating lettuce was three times worse for greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon.
The study looked at how growing, processing and transporting food, sales and service, and household storage impacts the environment. It used three separate diet plans – reduced calories (less meat and vegetables), same calories (more vegetables), and reduced calories (more vegetables) – and compared how each affected the environment.
Researcher Paul Fischbeck said this:
“Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken.”
He also said there’s “a complex relationship between diet and the environment. What is good for us health-wise isn’t always what’s best for the environment.”
While other researchers have already criticised the study for only taking a calorie-comparative approach, you can barely hear them over the sound of bacon-lovers worldwide cheering with reckless abandon.
If you’d like to read the full study, you can HERE.
Source: ABC.
