An Associated Press article summarizes the results of a new study finding that raising beef is more detrimental to the environment than producing eggs, dairy, pork, or poultry. According to the article, the study is one of the most comprehensive studies comparing the environmental costs to the United States of producing these different animal proteins.
The study, published in a National Academy of Sciences journal, found that eggs, dairy, pork, and poultry had similar environmental impacts, but beef was significantly different. Specifically, compared to these other proteins, producing beef (1) makes five times more greenhouse gases (GHGs) (e.g., methane) per calorie, (2) generates six times more nitrogen, (3) uses 11 times more irrigation water, and (4) takes 28 times the land. The study used government data to calculate air and water emissions and the quantity of water and land used to produce these proteins.
But, according to the AP article, the American beef industry asserts that the study oversimplifies beef production and the industry has, in recent years, improved its environmental impact. The sustainability director for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association is also cited as saying that beef production in the United States has the lowest GHG emissions in the world.
