The one way lettuce is actually worse for you than bacon

Friday, December 18, 2015, 3:43 PM - It's too late for all those standoffs over eating your greens when you were growing up, but new research says bacon is, in fact, better for you than lettuce -- from a climate standpoint, at least.

A study from Carnegie Mellon University took a look at what it takes to produce different kinds of food, and found some kinds of vegetables use more resources and emit more greenhouse gases per calorie than certain kinds of meat.

"Eating lettuce is over three times worse in greenhouse gas emissions than eating bacon," Prof. Paul Fischbeck said in a release from the university. "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."

The findings come from a study of the U.S. supply chain, with a view to explaining how obesity rates affect the environment, including water and energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

On the one hand, the study found that consuming fewer calories and watching your weight does, in fact, have a positive impact, reducing food-based greenhouse gas emissions, water and energy use by 9 per cent.

But, favouring vegetables -- and other recommended "healthier" foods like fish and dairy -- had the opposite effect. The study found that greenhouse gas emissions went up 6 per cent, water use by 10 per cent and energy use by a substantial 38 per cent.

"What is good for us health-wise isn’t always what’s best for the environment," PhD candidate Michelle Tom said. "That’s important for public officials to know and for them to be cognizant of these tradeoffs as they develop or continue to develop dietary guidelines in the future."

Though lettuce is a bad offender, the study found other kinds of vegetables fared better. Cabbage, for example, produces a fifth the emissions of pork, and broccoli less than half.

As well, the study isn't a blanket endorsement of all meats. Fischbeck told the Telegraph that beef and lamb produce less emissions than pork or chicken, and beef's emissions are worse than lettuce's.

Globally, the Telegraph says the livestock sector produces 15 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, which the newspaper says is about the same proportion as all transportation emissions.

SOURCES: Carnegie Mellon University | The Telegraph

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