Current Dietary Guidelines Could Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions
If Americans altered their current diet to be in line with the USDA guidelines the greenhouse gas emissions that are connected with the agriculture production could increase dramatically. The study looked at about one hundred foods, and looked at what would happen if people changed their diets to follow the USDA 2010 guidelines. The results were alarming. If every American followed the guidelines and kept their caloric intake the same the greenhouse gas emissions would increase by twelve percent. If Americans reduced their caloric intake to 2,000 calories a day this would only decrease the gas emissions by one percent. This goes to show that the current dietary guidelines are not aligned with environmental agendas.
In the US in 2010, food production contributed about eight percent of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. Cattle and dairy cows are the biggest contributor because cows do not use plant-based feed very efficiently. It takes a lot more feed for the cow to be able to produce milk or muscle so the cow is eating a lot more. By eating a lot more grass it takes more chemicals to keep the grass edible and more farming equipment which releases more fuel into the air. Both of these instances are increasing the greenhouse gas emissions. The only way to efficiently reduce the amount of agricultural greenhouse gas emission is to reduce the amount of meat and dairy people are consuming. People still need to eat meat and dairy and researchers are not suggesting that everyone become vegans, however reducing the amount of meat and dairy consumed would both help the environment and be healthier.
University of Michigan. "Dietary recommendations may be tied to increased greenhouse gas emissions." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 September 2014. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140905122715.htm>.
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