To Avert Climate Disaster, We Need to Phase Out Animal Agriculture

A peer-reviewed study published in PLOS Climate found that quickly phasing out animal agriculture may be one of the most promising solutions to the climate crisis. Researchers Michael Eisen and Patrick Brown found that transitioning to a plant-based food system over the next 15 years would prevent enough greenhouse gasses to offset most emissions from all other industries over the course of the century.

The way we raise and kill animals for food is one of the leading causes of climate change. Estimates suggest that the industry produces 15% of all greenhouse gasses. Animal agriculture requires extensive energy to clear large swaths of land for grazing cattle and growing feed crops. To meet consumer demand, roughly 70 billion land animals are killed for food each year, and the digestion process of each animal releases harmful emissions.

Moving towards a food system where people consume calories directly from plants, which require less land and fewer resources to produce, could "substantially alter the trajectory of global warming," according to study co-authors Eisen and Brown.

A global transition to plant-based foods would prevent greenhouse gas emissions, but it would also enable increased capture and storage of carbon already in the atmosphere. Animal agriculture is causing widespread destruction of vital landscapes, like the Amazon rainforest, for grazing land. Humans rely on these plant-rich spaces to store the carbon and release the oxygen that sustains us. Eisen and Brown's study shows that one underutilized strategy for fighting climate change is reinstating biomass in land currently used for grazing.

"Everybody knows that methane is a problem. Everybody knows that livestock contribute to global warming in some way. But animal ag contributes to global warming in two ways: It contributes via emissions and contributes because that land would otherwise be holding carbon. Most analyses only look at one of those things," Eisen said.

The study is admittedly imperfect. Brown is a Stanford University biochemistry professor emeritus and the current CEO of Impossible Foods, which produces plant-based proteins. Eisen is a professor of genetics at the University of California Berkeley and consults for Impossible Foods. Brown and Eisen have obvious vested interest in the growth of plant-based foods, but other scientists have reviewed the study's methods and findings and verified its validity. The bigger concern for most critics is feasibility. Few believe that transitioning human societies around the globe to a plant-based diet within 15 years is possible.

Despite its shortcomings, the study reinforces a common scientific finding: changing what we eat is critical to preserving our futures. Whether in 15 years or 100, eliminating animal agriculture's massive environmental toll is an important part of the climate solution.

Our ability to move swiftly towards a plant-based future may depend upon how quickly and fully we comprehend the wide-reaching repercussions of our food choices. The benefits of transitioning to an herbivorous society extend far beyond saving the planet. Let's take a moment to consider what the world might look like if we phase out animal products.

Imagine a world flourishing with diverse plant and animal life. Where there were once factory farms, grazing land, feed crops, and slaughterhouses, there are now native landscapes that capture and store carbon. Places that once housed unthinkable suffering give birth to new life. Rewilded landscapes are lush with rare native plants that support the declining insect populations that our very existence relies upon. Newly recreated habitat provides food and shelter for wild bird and mammal species that play crucial roles in our fragile ecosystem. Entire swaths of land that once only served the interests of the meat industry have become beautiful oases of nature for all animals to enjoy---humans included.

Imagine a world where people enjoy longer and higher-quality lives. No longer burdened by the higher levels of heart disease, cancer, stroke, and other ailments associated with eating animals, our communities benefit from the stronger immune systems and increased energy levels often associated with vegetarian and vegan diets. New infectious diseases, which frequently stem from human use of animals for food, are less common now.

Imagine a more just world for the working class. Workers who process animals for food--mostly latinx Americans and Latin American immigrants.)--suffer high levels of workplace injury and psychological distress under poor working conditions. In a plant-based future, new jobs processing plant-based food offer fewer safety risks and fewer threats to mental health for already vulnerable populations.

Imagine a world where animals are friends, not food. Billions of pigs, chickens, cows, and other animals are no longer brought into this world just to suffer and die for the sake of a meal. Some animals rescued from shuttering factory farms now feel grass and see sun every day, free from the torturous reality of industrial agriculture. These animals, who are surprisingly similar to the cats and dogs many of us share our homes with, experience companionship, love, play, and other joys that make life worth living, spared at last from the extreme crowding and confinement of factory farms. Our values are aligned with our actions by eating foods free from the suffering of sentient beings.

Animal agriculture poses a serious threat to humanity. According to Eisen and Brown, "The magnitude and rapidity of these potential effects should place the reduction or elimination of animal agriculture at the forefront of strategies for averting disastrous climate change." Whatever our timeline, we must take seriously their invitation to move swiftly towards a plant-based future. The transition will certainly pose challenges, but the many benefits far outweigh them. The key to a future where all animals-—humans and non-human—can thrive could be right at our fingertips.