Summary

A shift from overconsumption of animal protein to a plant-rich diet would have three effects: first, it would increase overall health, as overconsumption of meat products “can lead to certain cancers, strokes, and heart disease” (39); second, in a world of increasing population, it would help with the additional demands for food supply; and third, raising livestock accounts for upwards of 30 percent of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, since one-third of all food is wasted, contributing to eight percent of carbon emissions, reducing this waste can help curtail discharge. Improved rice cultivation is necessary as it leads to 10% of agricultural greenhouse emissions, yet it is in the daily diet of 3 billion people. Clean cookstoves are needed to replace the nearly 40 percent of global stoves that use wood, charcoal, coal and animal dung as fuel and contribute roughly 3% of the global greenhouse gas...