Why you don't need to give up meat to save the planet

Loads of people are ditching meat and changing to a vegan diet to help fight climate change. But can going vegan actually save the planet?

There are lots of reasons people go vegan; sometimes they don't like meat or killing animals, others do it for health reasons but more and more are ditching meat because of climate change.

Veganism has become really popular in recent years. Veganuary - where people go vegan for a month - is now an annual event while plenty of people are getting angry about it - particularly vegan sausage rolls.

What's certain is that veganism is now a mainstream diet and is here to stay. But the amount of meat we eat globally is going up, which is having an increasing impact on the environment.

So do we all need to go vegan and will it actually help prevent climate change?

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[Lb-riwr]

So in summary, eating meat is destroying the planet but you dont thave to stop eating it, just have a bit less... After all the statistics they brought forward, thats their conclusion? How sad, why not stop acting like winey children and take some responsibility .

[HerbivoreClub]

Veganism isn't about saving the planet, it just does as a side effect.

[krisnaagraan]

It's not that vegans "can't" eat meat, eggs, dairy products etc but rather, it's choosing not to :)

[Salvger]

1min in ... can't eat?!! No, don't want to eat! That's a difference

[tratten]

I would be making fun of vegans, and I would deny most of what they say in the video... But I ditched animal products long ago, and maybe in a couple years those of you who make fun of vegans will be preaching about it.

[mohammedpatel]

Well it's a good job i'm not trying to the save planet, I'm trying to save the animals from needless exploitation, violence and death.

[tlfioyd]

Been vegan 3 years, vegetarian 11 years before that. It's difficult at first but in time it's so easy. You realize all of the excuses people make as to why they cannot possibly do it and how crazy it is. It boils down to they like the taste of bacon and cheese and they don't care that their health will suffer starting in their late 30s and into their 40s; that they will be overweight and obese; and that meat consumption is an ecological catastrophe--especially via the production of red meat. Who cares about the next generation, right? And of course the ethical question is ignored altogether. Factory farming is mass torture and slaughter no matter how you look at it and the vast majority of the meat eating population would never be able to kill their own food or even watch what goes on in order to provide their McDonald's. The amazing thing is that once you learn how to cook your vegan meals will blow any meat dish out of the water and you will be healthier across the board. For just about any dessert there is a vegan alternative--usually to replace eggs. And they are almost identical in taste. In the end it's about taking responsibility for what you eat and not keeping your head in the sand like I once did. I only wish I had been vegan far sooner.

[Suryapoosarla]

if you want dairy then you are asking for existence of beef industry...

[Whymee]

It's not that hard actually. Especially when compared to what the environment faces and what animals go through

[ChrisG]

Been vegan for 3 years LOVING IT!! 😍😍😍😍😍

[betsysmith]

Glad this isn't a vegan bashing video. I thought for sure it would be. As far as Mary Beth Hall's argument goes, we as individuals are not deciding what is best for every person. (Not that it's only about human animals, because it's not.) We are rather making a stance as individuals to do what we can, and frankly as a traveller, the African diet is hardly meat-centric. You can easily search this information though Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. South Africa consumed the most meat in Africa by far, and is hardly a fair representation of the African diet. The video footage suggests a Saharan country, among which rank the lowest in meat consumption on Earth. At 7:33 you actually contradict the first concept with the notion that if developing countries consumed meat like yours, it would be bad news to the environment. You show on your graph (which is not of countries, oddly enough) that Africa is at the bottom of meat consumption. It's a diversion. This idea that it's someone else's problem, and someone else's responsibility is getting old. It's our problem, it's our responsibility, and it's something SO EASY to take responsibility for. Moderation is an excuse to justify bad behaviour. I don't litter with moderation, and I don't kill others with moderation.

[thisismelv]

I agree with the conclusion, we should all reduce our meat consumption.

[OctoBox]

Meat and insects can be eaten everywhere in the world without transportation or shipping.

Vegetarian plus fish or insects could exists anywhere in the world

Veganism requires mass shipping and mass mono-cropping

Omnivore Diet 250K to 2M years (nearly every single human)

Vegan Diet 80 to 100 years (10% of 10% of any population)

Periods of veganism/vegetarianism (gearing up to run down an animal or long migration) -- it has always been temporary.

According to BLUE ZONE the macro ratio is 70% / 30% veggie / eggs, dairy, a focus on locally sourced, organic, whole foods.

All Carnivore is NOT Blue Zone
All Vegan is NOT Blue Zone

Omnivore is Blue Zone

FACTS

[ababy]

It's not a 'movement' and it certainly isn't a 'diet'. It's about morals and ethics. Vegans EAT plant-based but you can be non-vegan and also eat plant-based. Whether you're vegan or not depends on why you are eating plant-based, or zero animal products.

[AbolishSpeciesism]

Veganism is not a diet, it is a philosophical belief that we should reduce the amount of suffering we bring to animals as much as possible(:

The future is vegan❤

[IzzyWizzy]

Veganism is about you as a person. A vegan is someone that want to make this a better world than it is now. It also teaches you a lot about yourself and life not being about self indulgence all the time.

[PercivalBlakeney]

"Eat meat responsibly"... just like we should drink alcohol responsibly or gamble responsibly.
They're absolutely *not* industry led lies or anything.

Draw your own conclusions. 😔

[satista]

Vegetarianism has existed in vedic cultures, for thousands of years in India. Even before Pythagoras.

[nickjames]

@2:50 - fake chicken. I want to know what chemicals they put in it to make it taste like chicken.

[gsica]

What a horrible thought. Eating synthetic meat. And this is how the clip ends as if it was a good thing.