Many factors play a role – are climate adhesives still allowed to eat meat?

When it comes to climate, emotions run high. Since climate activists have been confined to the streets, the discussion has revolved around at least one question: who is responsible for climate change? And can someone who takes to the streets for the climate still eat meat?

From a purely climate protection perspective, the answer to this question seems simple. In a direct comparison, animal products always perform worse than plant products when it comes to their carbon footprint. And meat is the ultimate climate killer anyway. Or? It’s not that easy. Because: Meat is not just meat. For example, it plays a major role where the meat comes from. For example, Austria has the most climate-friendly beef production in the EU. The role of livestock in our overall food system must also be taken into account.

In the production of plant-based food, there are always by-products that we humans cannot or do not want to eat – for example, grain, stems or peels. But animals eat these by-products and turn them into foods we can eat, such as milk and meat. If this were not the case, huge amounts of these by-products would remain unused and would have to be disposed of. Radical bans and restrictions in this area therefore make little sense. Rather, it is about people consciously consuming meat and from climate-efficient, regional production systems.

The consumer gives the production order
And apart from that: why do we always focus on the subject of meat? How climate-friendly our diet is depends on so many other factors. Production conditions also play a major role in plant-based food. By way of comparison: if tomatoes grow in season in Austria, this produces about 85 grams of CO2 per kilo of tomatoes. If they come from Austria, but are placed in a heated greenhouse in winter, this causes up to 9300 grams of CO2 per kilo. Tomatoes imported to Austria from warmer countries during the winter months also have a much larger CO2 footprint than Austrian open field tomatoes.

However, by far we all have the most work to do when it comes to food waste. No less than ten percent of all greenhouse gas emissions that we humans produce worldwide are caused by the enormous amount of food waste. A third of all food produced worldwide does not end up on our plates, but is lost in the value chain. A large part even goes straight from our fridge into the rubbish bin – and with it all the resources used to produce it.

Conscious consumption is an important factor
Incidentally, in Austria, most of the food waste is caused in private households. In this way, everyone here can really do something to protect the climate by combating food waste at home. So instead of wondering who can and can’t do what, let’s focus on what we can do. And that goes way beyond the topic of nutrition.

Reconsider eating meat
We need to get our overconsumption under control in many other areas of our lives. Constantly buying new cheap clothes or flying on holiday three times a year is also not good for the climate. But that doesn’t mean you can eat unlimited meat just because you didn’t take a flight this year. It means that every day we have many opportunities to consciously do something for climate protection with our consumption decisions.

Everyone can do something. Swearing at all motorists is too easy. Because maybe the driver can do without long-haul flights, he has a photovoltaic system and he eats sustainably and consciously. And: we cause the most pointless CO2 emissions by carelessly wasting food.

Guest Commentary by Hannes Royer, Mountain Farmer and President of “Land Creates Life”

We all have a duty
There are many accusations and demands in the climate debate. And if I’m very honest: I don’t hear them anymore. That is the fault of politics, that must be done by the economy – that may be so, but we are running out of time and soon we will no longer be able to constantly shrug the blame off ourselves.

As a farmer, I feel this especially when it comes to food production. We all want food that has been produced in a climate-friendly way, but at the same time we are not prepared to adjust our consumption and, for example, pay attention to regional and seasonal products. And instead of really thinking about the ecological impact of our food, we eat vegan for convenience and then fly to Bali on holiday because we don’t eat meat anyway.

I would like to say two things: if we want to combat climate change, it is not enough to focus on one sector and blame it. And: almost all our actions as consumers cause CO2 – that’s in the nature of things. Instead of limiting ourselves radically to one area, we could try a healthy mediocrity in our overall consumption: moderate meat consumption, fly one less time, buy one less T-shirt. That would be more moving than staying on the street – which wouldn’t be necessary anyway.