by DCG
At this point, I expect the “experts” to tell us that the only thing that isn’t bad for your carbon footprint is abortion and doctor-assisted suicide.
From Daily Mail: Families that often dine out and consume large quantities of sweets and alcohol are likely to have a higher carbon footprint than meat eaters, a study claims.
Researchers came to this conclusion after studying the food habits and carbon footprints of around 60,000 households across Japan.
They found that meat consumption typically only accounts for only 10 per cent of the different in environmental impact between low and high carbon households.
In contrast, households with high carbon footprints typically consumed around two to three times more sweets and alcohol than those with low footprints.
Based on their findings, the team are now advising people to cut down their intake on these products to help save the planet.
Nature and colleagues surveyed the food supply chain and consumption habits of around 60,000 households from across Japan’s 47 prefectures.
The researchers found that the levels of meat consumption were largely constant from household-to-households, but their carbon footprints varied considerably — with other foodstuffs appearing more responsible.
Eating out, for example, was found to contribute 175 per cent more carbon emissions for the average household than eating meats.
In fact, dining in restaurants was seen to contribute an annual average of 770 kilograms of greenhouse gases towards the environmental impact of those households with a high carbon footprint. In contrast, meat consumption cost just 280 kilograms.
In Japan, many households have turned vegan after learning that beef production emits 20 times the emissions per gram of protein as growing beans.
Professor Kanemoto and colleagues, however, have said that a one-size-fits-all policy is ill-advised. ‘If we think of a carbon tax, it might be wiser to target sweets and alcohol if we want a progressive system,’ said Professor Kanemoto.
Our findings suggest that high carbon footprints are not only a problem for a small number of meat lovers in Japan.’
‘If we are serious about reducing our carbon footprints, then our diets must change.’
Read the whole story here.
DCG