What if one day meat disappeared from the daily diet?
The results of recent studies show that the world will have significant changes in air, water, environmental benefits, health care… if this seemingly indispensable food is replaced by other “non-protein.”
A butcher shop in Beijing, China. (Source: EPA/VNA).
Benefits of a meat-free meal
One of the most frequently mentioned environmental costs of meat consumption is the amount of CO2 emitted during meat production.
Compared to fruits and vegetables, the CO2 emissions from meat production are quite high. Scientific American compares the CO2 emissions from producing half a pound (1 pound = 0.454 kg) of many foods with the emissions from driving cars.
The results show that potato production emits the least CO2, equivalent to emissions when driving 0.17 miles (1 mile = 1.60934 km).
Producing apples, asparagus emits emissions equivalent to driving a car 0.2 miles and 0.27 miles.
Producing chicken and pork emits as much CO2 as driving 0.73 miles and 2.52 miles. Beef production produces the highest results, equivalent to driving 9.81 miles.
Research by the Oxford Martin School of the University of Oxford also shows that a global shift to diets that rely less on meat could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by two-thirds.
This study also provides three scenarios for 2050 when the world population moves towards healthy eating, when the world population turns to vegetarian and when the world population becomes vegetarian.
The results show that the world population when going vegetarian will bring about nearly 600 billion USD in environmental benefits and nearly 1.1 trillion USD in health care benefits.
If the population converts to a vegetarian diet, it will bring in more than 500 billion USD in environmental benefits, and nearly 1 trillion USD in health care benefits, far ahead of the last group, bringing in just over 200 billion USD in environmental benefits. schools and more than 0 billion in healthcare benefits.
Dr. Marco Springmann, who led the study, said what people eat has a huge impact on individual health and the global environment.
Water is the next big factor besides air, closely related to the amount of food people consume. The World Economic Forum (WEF) cites statistics from Ecosystems – the Global Assessment of Water for Livestock Animal Products – showing that production of meat and animal products such as milk, eggs, butter, uses a considerable amount of water compared to farming.
To get 1 ton of chicken meat must consume nearly 5,000m3 of water. The amount of water used to produce 1 ton of pork, lamb, goat meat, more, amount to about 5,000-8,000m3 of water.
The amount of water used to produce the most beef, more than 15,000m3 of water, is 60 times higher than the amount of water used to produce 1 ton of sugarcane or 1 ton of vegetables, about 250m3 of water.
The BBC makes a number of assumptions as the entire world turns to vegetarianism. If everyone became vegetarian by 2050, the world would reduce about 7 million deaths a year.
If it is a vegetarian, this number is increased to 8 million cases. Meals without meat reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and some cancers, and could save the world 2-3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) bills buy medicine.
Without meat, people need to find nutritional alternatives, when the world currently has more than 2 billion people undernourished.
Vegetarian-friendly countries
According to Worldatlas.com, with nearly 38% of the population being vegetarian, India is now home to the largest number of vegetarians in the world. Israel is in second place with 13% of the population being vegetarian, followed by Taiwan (China) with 12%, Italy (10%), Austria, UK, Germany (both at 9%), followed by Brazil (8%), Ireland (6%) and Australia (5%).
According to Lonelyplanet, Seychelles, located in eastern Africa, topped the list of the world’s most vegetarian-friendly countries based on the Global Vegetarian Index compiled by Oliver’s Travels (UK), with meat consumption The world’s lowest per capita/year (35.6 kg), many vegetarian restaurants (117 restaurants) correlate with a small population.
Thailand is in second place, with 25.8 kg of meat/person/year, 908 vegetarian restaurants. Malaysia occupies the third place, with 52.3 kg of meat consumed/person/year, 1,185 vegetarian restaurants.
Representing the “old continent” is the United Kingdom, with 84.2 kg of meat/person/year, 4,433 restaurants. North America has Belize, with 42.5 kg of meat/person/year, 28 restaurants.
South America has Peru with 20.8 kg of meat/person/year, 284 restaurants. Representing Oceania is the Solomon Islands, which consume 11.9 kg of meat/person/year.
The US is the country with the most vegetarian restaurants in the world (18,975 restaurants), but it is not in the top 20 because the average meat consumption in this country stands at the highest level in the world, 120 kg/person/year, compared with the country with the lowest rate is Bhutan, 3 kg of meat/person/year.
Countries that are less dependent on meat in Southeast Asia are in the top of the list.