Environmental Impacts of Plant-Based Diets: How Does Organic Food Consumption Contribute to Environmental Sustainability?

Abstract

BackgroundStudies investigating diet-related environmental impacts have rarely considered the production method of the foods consumed. The objective of the present study, based on the NutriNet-Santé cohort, was to investigate the relationship between a provegetarian score and diet-related environmental impacts. We also evaluated potential effect modifications on the association between a provegetarian score and the environmental impacts of organic food consumption.MethodsFood intake and organic food consumption ratios were obtained from 34,442 French adults using a food frequency questionnaire, which included information on organic food consumption for each group. To characterize the overall structure of the diets, a provegetarian score was used to identify preferences for plant-based products as opposed to animal-based products. Moreover, three environmental indicators were used to assess diet-related environmental impacts: greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cumulative energy demand (CED), and land occupation. Environmental impacts were assessed using production life cycle assessment (LCA) at the farm level. Associations between provegetarian score quintiles, the level of organic food consumption, and environmental indicators were analyzed using ANCOVAs adjusted for energy, sex, and age.ResultsParticipants with diets rich in plant-based foods (fifth quintile) were more likely to be older urban dwellers, to hold a higher degree in education, and to be characterized by an overall healthier lifestyle and diet. A higher provegetarian score was associated with lower environmental impacts (GHG emissionsQ5vsQ1 = 838/1,664 kg CO2eq/year, −49.6%, P < 0.0001; CEDQ5vsQ1 = 4,853/6,775 MJ/year, −26.9%, P < 0.0001; land occupationQ5vsQ1 = 2,420/4,138 m2/year, −41.5%, P < 0.0001). Organic food consumption was also an important modulator of the relationship between provegetarian dietary patterns and environmental impacts but only among participants with diets rich in plant-based products.ConclusionFuture field studies should endeavor to integrate all the components of a sustainable diet, i.e., both diet composition and production methods.

Clinical Ecology—Transforming 21st-Century Medicine with Planetary Health in Mind

“…Personalized dietary plans can be constructed with the clinical endpoint (depression, for example [88]) and planetary sustainability in mind [89][90][91]. Thankfully, with the health benefits of whole plants foods (and the avoidance of ultra-processed foods [92]) those are often overlapping conversations [93][94][95]. The clinical ecologist will be concerned with how to best educate patients on the uptake of a diet for personal and planetary health; emerging research on healthy plant-based foods suggests that emphasis on health alone may be less effective than messaging and education on taste [96].…”

The importance of the exposome and allostatic load in the planetary health paradigm

“…Available research indicates that the loss of experience (especially immunological) can shape acute biological responses in context over time; as we have pointed out previously, these are intertwined with income, education, race, immigrant status/segregation, social cohesion, evaluations of neighborhood esthetic quality, and/or aspects of neighborhood safety (both real and perceived) [ 103 ]. While constituents of a diet which simultaneously promotes human and planetary health is generally agreed upon [ 104 – 106 ], less is known concerning the ways in which nature relatedness, optimism, and pro-environmental attitudes/behaviors and allostatic load intersect with adherence to such a diet.…”

Drivers of the Growing Water, Carbon and Ecological Footprints of the Chinese Diet from 1961 to 2017

“…A diet transition to the preference of animal-based foods has led to a rapidly increasing of carbon footprint in China. If a sustainable diet is adopted, e.g., eating more plant-based foods, the carbon emission can reduce by up to 75% [17][18][19]. Kim et al (2018) proved the climate benefit of adopting a vegetarian diet, and their results emphasized the necessity of reducing red meats consumption for climate action [20].…”