Plant-Based or Traditional: Which Christmas Dinner Had a Bigger Carbon Footprint for the Planet

For many, when thinking about a Christmas dinner, the environment seems to have little to do with festive food. However, all the food that humanity consumes has some carbon footprint. Today, less than 24 hours after raising the Christmas glass, the idea of ​​how much was contributed to Global warming may reappear.

With this premise, Canadian scientists evaluated which Christmas dinner produces a greater Carbon footprint for the planet. According to experts from the École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), in Montreal, the traditional festive food on this date consumes, on average, 70 percent of the daily carbon budget that a person has to achieve the goals established in the Agreement from Paris: a rise of 1.5°C by mid-century and 2°C by 2100.

Now, when it comes to vegan diners, whose diet is plant-based and without any animal derivatives, their Carbon footprint stood at 14 percent of their daily budget. “Some foods, especially meat and dairy products, emit much higher levels of greenhouse gases than plant-based options,” the experts said in a statement.

In this sense, they highlighted that “the production of food from animals occupies more land and contributes to habitat loss. As the planet continues to warm due to ineffective strategies and a lack of political consensus, food remains one of the main drivers of change, much of it being driven by people in the northern hemisphere.”

"During the Christmas season, we consume richer foods that have a greater impact on the environment," said the team of scientists led by Thomas Elliot. In order to assess this impact, the experts first looked at the Carbon footprint emitted by the average Canadian diet. They said the average omnivore emits about 15 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2), a figure that requires 16 square meters of agricultural land every day. Meanwhile, the average vegan Canadian emits 5 kg of CO2, equivalent to five square meters of land.

The next step was to assess “the kinds of foods people eat at parties, such as roast ham, turkey, pork pie, and fruitcake,” but also included in the analysis “a vegan Wellington roast, a vegetable pie, and a vegan Christmas cake.

"Roasted ham and pork pie have a far greater impact than all the food consumed in a day, on average, by someone in Canada with a typical omnivorous diet, confirming that festive foods increase our ecological footprint," they stressed. The experts. While highlighting that "both the Carbon footprint and land use increase: more land used generally means more greenhouse gas emissions."

In this sense, they explained that "roasted ham emits three times more carbon than vegan Wellington and requires more than 4.5 times the land area." "In fact, roast ham has the highest Carbon footprint and land use among the foods we modeled, demonstrating the carbon intensity and level of land use of pork," the researchers noted. scientists.

And they continued: “Pork pie and roast turkey rank second, followed by meatless foods. Vegan Christmas cake, for example, produces less carbon and requires less land than vegetarian fruitcake that contains eggs and butter. To put it in numbers, according to the Canadian scientists, “roasted ham and pork pies have the largest carbon footprints, emitting around 7kg of CO2 and 6kg of CO2 respectively, and both require around seven square meters of agricultural land”. "We see that pork represents 54% of the weight of the pâté, but produces 81% of greenhouse gas emissions," they deepened.

Now, when compared to plant-based eating, the experts highlighted that in "vegan plant-based pie (which causes a third of the environmental impacts of pork pie), it's the crust that generates more of the three-quarters of the impacts, while the stuffing of potatoes, mushrooms, and tofu is negligible.”

Put in numbers, the Vegan Pie and Vegan Wellington have the smallest carbon footprints, as “both emit just 1kg of CO2 and require less than two square meters of agricultural land”.

Among the findings, the scientists noted that "a meal consisting of roast ham, pork pie and a slice of fruitcake consumes up to 70 percent of a person's daily carbon budget." With which, only 30% remains for activities such as transportation and Christmas gifts, for example.

On the other hand, when they evaluated the typical vegan Christmas meal, which they established with “a vegetable pie, vegan Wellington and vegan cake”, they assured that it “only used around 14 percent of the daily carbon budget”.

“We can make many decisions to reduce our carbon or farmland footprint, and food is one of the most important. This holiday season, as we eat more and better, it's good to keep in mind what those choices are taxing the planet and consider the environmental benefits of delicious plant-based options," the experts concluded in the statement.

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Now, when compared to plant-based eating, the experts highlighted that in "vegan plant-based pie (which causes a third of the environmental impacts of pork pie), it's the crust that generates more of the three-quarters of the impacts, while the stuffing of potatoes, mushrooms, and tofu is negligible.