Comparing the environmental impacts of meatless and meat-containing meals in the United States

Ernstoff, Alexi; Tu, Qingshi; Faist, Mireille; Del Duce, Andrea; Mandlebaum, Sarah; Dettling, Jon

doi:10.3390/su11226235

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-19499

Publication type:	Article in scientific journal
Type of review:	Peer review (publication)
Title:	Comparing the environmental impacts of meatless and meat-containing meals in the United States
Authors:	Ernstoff, Alexi Tu, Qingshi Faist, Mireille Del Duce, Andrea Mandlebaum, Sarah Dettling, Jon
et. al:	No
DOI:	10.3390/su11226235 10.21256/zhaw-19499
Published in:	Sustainability
Volume(Issue):	11
Issue:	22
Issue Date:	2019
Publisher / Ed. Institution:	MDPI
ISSN:	2071-1050
Language:	English
Subjects:	Diet; Life Cycle Assessment; Vegetarian
Subject (DDC):	338.927: Environmental economics and sustainable development
Abstract:	This study compares the environmental impacts of meatless and meat-containing meals in the United States according to consumption data in order to identify commercial opportunities to lower environmental impacts of meals. Average consumption of meal types (breakfast, lunch, dinner) were assessed using life cycle assessment. Retail and consumer wastes, and weight losses and gains through cooking, were used to adjust the consumption quantities to production quantities. On average, meatless meals had more than a 40% reduction in environmental impacts than meat-containing meals for any of the assessed indicators (carbon footprint, water use, resource consumption, health impacts of pollution, and ecosystem quality). At maximum and minimum for carbon footprint, meat-containing dinners were associated with 5 kgCO2e and meatless lunches 1 kg CO2e. Results indicate that, on average in the US, meatless meals lessen environmental impacts in comparison to meat-containing meals; however, animal products (i.e., dairy) in meatless meals also had a substantial impact. Findings suggest that industrial interventions focusing on low-impact meat substitutes for dinners and thereafter lunches, and low-impact dairy substitutes for breakfasts, offer large opportunities for improving the environmental performance of the average diet.
URI:	https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/19499
Fulltext version:	Published version
License (according to publishing contract):	CC BY 4.0: Attribution 4.0 International
Departement:	School of Engineering
Organisational Unit:	Institute of Sustainable Development (INE)
Appears in collections:	Publikationen School of Engineering

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Ernstoff, A., Tu, Q., Faist, M., Del Duce, A., Mandlebaum, S., & Dettling, J. (2019). Comparing the environmental impacts of meatless and meat-containing meals in the United States. Sustainability, 11(22). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226235

Ernstoff, A. et al. (2019) ‘Comparing the environmental impacts of meatless and meat-containing meals in the United States’, Sustainability, 11(22). Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226235.

A. Ernstoff, Q. Tu, M. Faist, A. Del Duce, S. Mandlebaum, and J. Dettling, “Comparing the environmental impacts of meatless and meat-containing meals in the United States,” Sustainability, vol. 11, no. 22, 2019, doi: 10.3390/su11226235.

ERNSTOFF, Alexi, Qingshi TU, Mireille FAIST, Andrea DEL DUCE, Sarah MANDLEBAUM und Jon DETTLING, 2019. Comparing the environmental impacts of meatless and meat-containing meals in the United States. Sustainability. 2019. Bd. 11, Nr. 22. DOI 10.3390/su11226235

Ernstoff, Alexi, Qingshi Tu, Mireille Faist, Andrea Del Duce, Sarah Mandlebaum, and Jon Dettling. 2019. “Comparing the Environmental Impacts of Meatless and Meat-Containing Meals in the United States.” Sustainability 11 (22). https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226235.

Ernstoff, Alexi, et al. “Comparing the Environmental Impacts of Meatless and Meat-Containing Meals in the United States.” Sustainability, vol. 11, no. 22, 2019, https://doi.org/10.3390/su11226235.