KYIV, Nov 21 — Stopping or reducing meat consumption to protect the planet is something that more and more eco-minded citizens are doing. But, according to a new study, adopting a vegetarian diet could also considerably limit food insecurity in Europe as a result of the multiple current crises.

From wheat and barley to sunflower oil, for more than two years, Europe and the world have been facing a food crisis leading to disruptions in the supply chain of certain foods. While this food insecurity is often linked to the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis, it has been further exacerbated by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February. According to new research, conducted by researchers at the University of Leiden (Netherlands) and published in Nature Food, adopting a vegetarian or vegan diet could well help reduce this insecurity.

Based on the observation that 60 per cent of the agricultural production of imported Ukrainian and Russian crops is used to feed animals, stopping eating meat would free up this farmland and compensate for "all production deficits from Russia and Ukraine while yielding improvements in blue water use, greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration,” the researchers write. In a statement, Leiden researcher and senior author of the research, Paul Behrens, said: "Animals are fed crops that could be eaten directly by people: 30-40 per cent of all crops are fed to animals. In the EU and UK, this number rises to 60 per cent. Animal agriculture also occupies about 80 per cent of all agricultural land.”

To reach these conclusions, the researchers relied on the guidance of the EAT-Lancet Commission, a global group of 37 scientists who demonstrate the critical role that diets play in linking human health and environmental sustainability. They then assessed the potential impact of these changes based on several criteria, such as fertiliser use and environmental co-benefits for blue water, green water, emissions and carbon sequestration.

"This modelling approach allows us to follow crops throughout the global supply chain from producers to consumers, thereby accounting for embodied products in the global supply chain — such as in the case of soybeans produced in Brazil, which are exported to feed cattle in the Netherlands, which are then exported to the United Kingdom for final consumption as beef,” explain the study authors.

According to the study, such a shift in the European Union and the United Kingdom could also help improve resilience in terms of the ability to recover from challenges such as the food insecurity caused by the Russian war on Ukraine, as it would help absorb the significant shock caused by losing these major food producers. "The diet would also be better for the environment and health across high-income nations,” the authors say. — ETX Studio