Scarboroughandresearcherslikehimwillonlybesatisfied
whenallofushaveadopteda vegandiet.Hestressesthatthis
isfarfrombeingtrue.Infact,hesays,somescientificmodels
suggestit isslightlymoreefficienttohavesmallnumbersof
livestockintheagriculturalsystemthannone.Forinstance,
inmanageablequantities,animalmanureis a usefulfertiliser.
“Theproblemis thatthenumberofanimals in the food system
rightnowisoverwhelmingit,”hesays.
It’snotaboutgivingupmeat,saysScarborough,buteatingfar
lessofit.Doingsois goodforanimalwelfaretoo.If weeatless
meat,wecan‘afford’– fromanenvironmentalperspective– to
allowfarmanimalsto livea free-rangeliferatherthanraisethem
throughintensivefarming.Inotherwords,Britishconsumers
shouldbeabletoadopta dietwithgoodenvironmentaland
ethicalcredentials– if theyarewilling to eat no more than
aboutoneportionofmeatperweek.
DrGrahamHorganandhiscolleaguesat Biomathematicsand
StatisticsScotlanddesignedanalgorithm(muncher.aws.bioss.
ac.uk) thataimsto nudgepeopletowardsmakingthosekindsof
dietarychanges.It assessessomeone’sfoodshoppinglistand,
usingdataontherangeof carbonfootprintsassociatedwitheach
product,suggestsrelativelysmalltweaksthatshouldreduce
thecarboncostwhilestillmeetingnutritionalrequirements.
Forinstance,thefirstthingthealgorithmdoesisincreaseor
reducethequantityofanygivenitemonthelistbyupto 50
percent.Thenit considersaddingsmallquantitiesoffoodsnot
ontheshoppinglist– a tinofmackerel,forinstance– thatcan
providekeynutritionalrequirementsat a relativelylowcarbon
cost.“Ourapproachwastotrytoavoidsaying‘cutoutredmeat
altogether’andsimplysay‘eatlessredmeat’,”saysHorgan. “I
PETER BOLTER, GET T Y IMAGES X2feel that might be more acceptable to consumers.”
CARBON-FREE DIET FE ATUREJustbymakingthesechanges,about
50 percentofpeopleina 2016study
publishedbyHorganandhiscolleagues
couldcontinueto eatmeatbutalsoreduce
thecarbonfootprintof theirdietto a level
whereitreleasedonly3.1kgCO 2 e per
day.Thisisn’ttoomuchhigherthanthe
2.9kgCO 2 e perdayforavegandietthat
Scarboroughcalculated.Horgannowwants
totestwhetherthealgorithmcanhavea
real-worldimpactonthedietarychoices
madebyaverageBritishconsumers.
Beyondcuttingdownonmeatthereis at
leastonemorethingconsumerscandoto
lower their dietary carbon footprint: learn 2LEFTMeatconsumption
is falling;therearefour
timesasmanyvegansin
theUKtoday,asthere
weresixyearsago
BELOWQuornFoodshas
beenworkingwith
researcherstocalculate
thecarboncostofits
meatless products