How to transition to reduced-meat diets that benefit people and the planet

Niki A.Rust^a, Lucy Ridding^b, Caroline Ward^c, Beth Clark^d, Laura Kehoe^e,f, Manoj Dora^g, Mark J.Whittingham^h, Philip McGowanⁱ, Abhishek Chaudhary^j, Christian J.Reynolds^k, Chet Trivedy^l, Nicola West^m

a School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK

b UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Wallingford, UK

c School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

d School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK

e University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 2JD, UK

f The Nature Conservancy, Arlington County, Virginia, USA

g Operations Management, Brunel University, London, UK

h School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK

i Institute for Sustainability, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK

j Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, India

k Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

l National Health Service, London, UK m West Midlands Deanery, UK

Overwhelming evidence shows that overconsumption of meat is bad for human and environmental health and that moving towards a more plant-based diet is more sustainable. For instance, replacing beef with beans in the US could free up 42% of US cropland and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 334 mmt, accomplishing 75% of the 2020 carbon reduction target. We summarise the evidence on how overconsumption of meat affects social, environmental and economic sustainability. We highlight the social, environmental and economic effectiveness of a range of dietary interventions that have been tested to date. Because meat eating is embedded within complex cultural, economic, and political systems, dietary shifts to reduce overconsumption are unlikely to happen quickly and a suite of sustained, context-specific interventions is likely to work better than brief, one-dimensional approaches. We conclude with key actions needed by global leaders in politics, industry and the health sector that could help aide this dietary transformation to benefit people and the planet.

Publication details

Rust, N., Ridding, L., Ward, C., Clark, B., et al. 2020. How to transition to reduced-meat diets that benefit people and the planet. Science of The Total Environment, volume 718, 20 May 2020, 137208

How to transition to reduced-meat diets that benefit people and the planet