US grass-fed beef is as damaging to the environment as industrial beef, shows new research
The study also found that both grass-fed and industrial beef are ten times more carbon intensive than protein-dense alternatives like plant protein.
Grass-fed beef in the US is as damaging to the environment as industrial beef, a new study has found.
A team of researchers set out to investigate the science behind the common claim that grass-fed beef is environmentally friendly.
Grass-fed beef has been promoted by some as a more environmentally-friendly option, with a narrative that relies on the idea that cattle grazing is good for the soil and that the animals are eating grass, a naturally-growing resource.
The prominence of grass-fed beef has become more common in recent years, too, perhaps as the wider animal agriculture industry attempts to respond to increasing consumer and government concerns over the environmental footprint of meat and dairy.
Now, a new scientific analysis of cattle operations in the US has shown that grass-fed beef is no less carbon intensive than industrial beef.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that the emissions per kg of protein were equal or even higher for grass-fed beef. Even the most efficient grass-fed beef, the research says, is 10 to 25 percent higher for planet warming emissions than industrial beef.
This higher level of environmental impact of grass-fed beef is thought to be because the animals eating grass grow slower and less large when compared to animals kept in industrial operations with feedlots.
These findings call into question any attempts to label grass-fed beef as environmentally friendly for consumers.
“I think that there is a large portion of the population who really do wish their purchasing decisions will reflect their values,” Gidon Eshel, one of the study’s authors told the Associated Press. “But they are being misled, essentially, by the wrong information.”
According to the study’s figures, both grass-fed beef and industrial beef were found to be 3 to 43 times as carbon intensive in comparison to nonbeef alternatives including plants.
This finding follows many other studies that have previously shown that beef is significantly worse for the environment than other proteins.
Eating for the planet
If beef is the worst choice for the environment, then what’s the best?
The scientific consensus is clear: research consistently shows that the most efficient and lowest-impact protein choice is plant protein.
In the most comprehensive research of its kind, scientists analyzed the individual diets of over 55,000 people and found that vegan diets caused 75 percent less plant-warming carbon emissions than meat diets.
According to the United Nations, a global shift towards a vegan diet is necessary to combat the worst effects of climate change, and previous research from the University of Oxford shows that going vegan is the “single biggest way” to reduce your impact on the planet.
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