Opting for that plate of bacon instead of a salad can actually help save the environment.
A newly released study conducted by Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that following the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommendations to eat more fruits, vegetables, dairy, and seafood is more harmful to the environment than eating meat.
According to the study, a vegetarian diet requires more greenhouse gas emissions per calorie than meat.
The study found eating a vegetarian diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, dairy, and seafood “increased the environmental impact in all three categories: Energy use went up by 38 percent, water use by 10 percent and GHG emissions by 6 percent.”
Professor Paul Fischbeck said, “Eating lettuce is over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon.”
“Lots of common vegetables require more resources per calorie than you would think. Eggplant, celery and cucumbers look particularly bad when compared to pork or chicken.”
Combined with a 2012 study that revealed “the adoption of the vegetarian diet tends to follow the onset of mental disorders” and that “a vegetarian diet is associated with an elevated risk of mental disorders” in Western countries, it doesn’t make sense not to indulge yourself with meat.