Impossible Burger vs. beef: Which is better for the environment?

Amanda Capritto

Is animal farming bad for the environment?  

Depending on where you look, you might find that livestock farming contributes as little as 2.8% of total greenhouse gas emissions or as much as 14.5%. 
True, animal agriculture produces carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases, but Mitloehner encourages people to look at two important caveats: 

1. Methane is the most significant gas produced from livestock, but methane only remains in the atmosphere for a short time compared to carbon dioxide, which can remain in the air for hundreds of years. 
2. There are bigger issues being clouded by this everlasting debate, such as human pollution and the burning of fossil fuels for electricity, transportation and industry. 

One study even suggests that lab-grown meat could actually be worse for the environment over time.However, all that study really proves is that assuming cell-based meats are better for the environment is just as dangerous as assuming that animal agriculture is the biggest driver of climate change...

Can eating a plant-based diet help the environment? 

Yet another tough question to answer (no big surprise there). The reason there's no straightforward answer to this question is that every food -- whether sourced from animals or plants -- has a unique impact on the environment, Mitloehner says. 
"If we compare gallon to gallon the consumption of real milk from a cow and almond milk, then the real milk will have a carbon footprint 10 times higher than the almond milk," Mitloehner says. "But the almond milk has 17 times the water footprint -- you need 17 times more water to make the equivalent amount of almond [milk] to real milk."
But Abu-Ali argues yes, that eating a plant-based diet can help the environment, simply due to the fact that growing plants uses less resources and less space than does raising animals for food. 
"About 18% of the world's calories come from meat and dairy, but about 80% of farmland is used for meat and dairy," Abu-Ali says, citing this study published in the journal Science. "So there's a very disproportionate usage of resources and that creates some big problems."

And what about all those quotes and statistics? 

Statements like "four pounds of beef equals the emissions of a transatlantic flight" are usually false and misleading, and that's according to both Mitloehner and Abu-Ali. Those statements are often based on "convoluted math," Abu-Ali said, and don't accurately depict the actual state of affairs...

OK, but the environmental situation still isn't ideal

That's true -- there's still work to be done to reduce the environmental impact of all food production, both animal and plant-based. Mitloehner argues that animal agriculture has actually made incredible leaps toward sustainability in the last few decades. 
"We understand societal expectations, and we have an interest in optimizing the stewardship of our land," Mitloehner says. "Nobody has a greater interest in developing our lands sustainably than we do, because this is land we want to pass on to the next generation."
You can do your part to help, too. Abu-Ali and Mitloehner offer some insightful advice on how to do so for vegans and omnivores alike...

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