The Impact of a Meat-Free Diet on our Planet and our Health

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Isabelle Osborne

With records of vegetarianism dating back to as early as 580 BCE, the implications of a meat-based diet have been the root of ethical, environmental and medical debate for centuries.

1847 saw the first vegetarian society introduced in England, shortly followed by that of the American Vegetarian Society three years later. Vegetarianism has since infiltrated the political scene, notably in 1947 when the American Vegetarian Party put forward candidates in every presidential election until 1964.

Today, organisations including The Vegetarian Society and programmes such as National Vegetarian Week continue to promote the importance of eating a vegetarian-based diet and provide information to inspire people to become vegetarian. 

Yet, the diets of 91% of households in the UK still contain red meat, and the global consumption of meat is around 350 million tons per year. Global meat consumption is projected to reach between 460 million and 570 million tons by 2050, twice as high as it was in 2008.

However, meat-free diets are steadily rising in popularity. Around 7.2 million adults in the UK follow a meat-free diet, whilst 6.5 million of the population intend to become vegetarian, vegan or pescatarian in 2021. 

A year on from 2020’s World Meat-Free Week – a week dedicated to raising awareness of the importance of reducing our meat consumption – the occasion presents itself for us to consider the nature of meat-free eating and the role it plays in positive sustainable change, both for humans and our planet. As the meat-free diet continues to gain traction, what is the case for excluding meat from our diets, and what impact does this decision make on the wider global community?

What is a meat-free diet?

A simple Google search demonstrates that there is some debate as to what a ‘meat-free’ diet consists of, particularly as to whether this includes fish. Whilst some define ‘meat’ as ‘the flesh of animals as used for food’, others consider the cold-blooded nature of fish as reason to exclude them from the ‘meat’ category, as meat is only considered to come from warm-blooded animals.

This article defines a ‘meat-free’ diet as a diet that excludes meat (chicken, beef, lamb, duck etc.) and fish, but includes products sourced from mammals such as eggs, milk and cheese.

The health benefits of a meat-free diet

Whilst a mis-managed vegetarian diet can contribute to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, including those of vitamin B-12 and omega-3 fatty acids, there remain significant health benefits of switching to a meat-free diet.

A balanced diet includes whole grains, beans, lentils, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, some of which naturally high in fibre and low in saturated fat. Coupled with the higher intake of fibre, phytonutrients, antioxidants, flavonoids, and carotenoids that a meat-free diet often encourages, a vegetarian diet has been shown to decrease one’s risk of health conditions including heart disease and diet-related cancers.

Vegetarians are shown to have lower blood pressures than meat-eating individuals, as plant-based foods are often lower in fat, sodium, and cholesterol. By comparison, fruits and vegetables are good sources of potassium, a mineral that helps to lower blood pressure.

A meat-free diet also contributes to bone health. In countries where people mostly eat vegetarian diets, osteoporosis (a health condition that weakens bones) rates are lower. Mortality rates are also affected by diet; a study carried out by the Journal of the American Heart Association shows that a plant-based diet reduces the risk of all causes of mortality by 25%.

In addition, The British Medical Journal has conducted a report on the link between COVID-19 and plant-based and pescatarian diets, showing that such diets are associated with lower odds of moderate-to-severe COVID-19.

The argument remains, however, that animal food sources do play a role in a healthy diet, including providing us with vitamin B12 and vitamin D; two vitamins that are naturally absent from most plant foods. Even so, there are meat-free alternatives that offer these vitamins, such as breakfast cereals, fat spreads and alternative dairy products. Managed thoughtfully, a meat-free diet can be healthy and nutritious. 

The environmental benefits of a meat-free diet

Meat production is a significant contributor to climate change. Livestock agriculture contributes up to a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the greenhouse gases it emits are greater than those from the entire global transport sector. By comparison, a vegetarian diet contains 2.5 times less carbon emissions than a meat diet.

Water consumption is another factor that plays a part in meat production. A chicken breast takes more than 542 litres of water to produce (the equivalent of filling a bathtub 6.5 times). Farming across the world uses around 70% of accessible freshwater on our planet. But water consumption is not the only issue: The Vegan Society also draws attention to the fact that the livestock sector is possibly the largest sectoral source of water pollution, as slurry from livestock contains high levels of nitrogen and phosphor that ultimately pollutes groundwater, streams and rivers. 

Meat production also contributes to deforestation and compromises the habitats that millions of species call home. Livestock agriculture contributes to 80% of deforestation worldwide and uses a third of the world’s ice-free land. By contrast to a meat-based diet, a vegetarian diet requires two-and-a-half times less the amount of land needed to grow food.

In the UK, a shift from a high-meat to a low-meat diet could reduce our individual carbon footprint by 920 kg CO2-e per year, whist changing a high-meat diet to a vegetarian diet could reduce it by 1230 kg CO2-e per year. The biggest reduction in CO2-e per year is altering one’s diet from high-meat to vegan, which contributes a reduction of 1560 kg CO2-e per year. 

Do I have to go completely meat-free to make a difference?

Making the decision to cut out meat, fish and/or products sourced from mammals marks a significant change to your diet. But it is clear that an increase in meat-free diets will mark a change in the world’s ability to protect the environment and the health of our civilization. 

Staggeringly, a world of vegans could save the lives of 8 million humans by 2050. However, cutting out all meat and fish from your diet is not the only change you can make; small, sustainable changes contribute to the cause too. 

Less Meat Less Heat, a non-profit organisation that advocates for a ‘Climatarian’ diet (a diet focusing on reducing our carbon footprint through the foods we eat to help address climate change), recognises that it is unrealistic to expect a wholly vegan population in the short-term. Instead, they focus on cutting down on the consumption of beef and lamb, which alone can contribute to ‘avoid[ing] reaching two degrees of warming and drastically reduce the costs associated with needing to adapt to a more volatile climate.’ 

If you cannot reconcile with a wholly meat-free diet, relieving your diet of only one meat product, or adopting a ‘flexitarian’ route of eating a predominantly plant-based diet with the occasional meat indulgence, are better alternatives than maintaining an indefinitely meat-based diet. If one person alone goes meat-free for only one meal, that contributes to saving the equivalent of 9 people’s daily water usage and a carbon-saving equivalent of boiling a kettle 388 times.

The nature of the meat-free and plant-based food market in our society makes the decision to change your diet even more attractive; if a meat-free or vegan diet is something you are considering, the plethora of quality meat-free and plant-based products that have appeared on the market mean a switch in your diet is all the more accessible. 

23% of all new UK food product launches in 2019 were categorised as vegan, an increase from 17% in 2018. The global vegan food market size is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 9.6% from 2019 to 2025. 

Vegan restaurants are also increasing in popularity. Analysing the growth of vegan restaurants in Europe, HappyCow reported that the number of vegan restaurants in Europe in 2007 was fewer than the number of vegan restaurants in London at the time they published their findings. In 2019, there were 2662 vegan restaurants and 3816 vegetarian restaurants in Europe, increasing from the meagre 85 vegan and 517 vegetarian restaurants of 2007. There are now 12,000 restaurants offering vegan-friendly options on the Deliveroo app, more than double that seen in the previous year. 

The UK’s culinary industry has also seen a shift, as was represented on Great British Menu this year, when Kirk Haworth became the first plant-based chef to compete in the competition that hosts some of the nation’s top chefs. Despite the four-course banquet menu harbouring a fish course and a main course that has historically been dominated by meat-based dishes, Haworth delivered an entirely plant-based menu when competing in the North West heat this year. This highlights the journey the competition has taken in its 16 years in showcasing the diversity of the country’s culinary chain and providing a platform for plant-based innovations. 

Overall, a diet that is conscious of its meat intake – whether this be an entirely plant-based diet or one that adopts more of a ‘flexitarian’ approach – is one to hold up as a beacon that can foster sustainable change. Adopted on a global scale, the meat-free diet presents endless benefits to our planet and our health, making the endorsement for increasing awareness of altering our diets all the more robust. 

Featured image courtesy of Leon Ephraïm on Unsplash. Image license can be found here. No changes were made to this image.