Using biophysical simulation models to compare 10 eating patterns, researchers found that eating fewer animal products will increase the number of people that can be supported by existing farmland. But as it turns out, eliminating animal products altogether isn’t the best way to maximize sustainable land use. Their work was published in Elementa, a journal on the science of the anthropocene. [...]
The average US consumer today requires more than 2.5 acres (over two football fields) of land each year to sustain his or her current diet. That number decreases dramatically as you reduce meat consumption and add in more vegetables. Three of the vegetarian diets examined in the study would use less than 0.5 acres of land per person each yea, freeing up more land to feed more people. [...]
And then there’s the issue of philosophy. A lot of vegans aren’t in the business of avoiding animal products for sustainability reasons, some would prefer to just leave animal husbandry out of food altogether.
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