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Tag: food system

  • Pet Diets Are Quietly Contributing to Climate Change – but There’s a Simple Fix

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    London, United Kingdom, May 21, 2025 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Feeding your dog or cat might be doing more damage to the planet than you think.

    A new study has revealed that conventional meat-based pet food carries a largely unrecognized environmental cost – contributing significantly to land use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and climate breakdown. The review, just published, found that pet food production is closely tied to the livestock industry, which is responsible for at least one-fifth of annual global GHG emissions.

    With the world’s pet population now approaching one billion animals, the impacts are no longer minor. In the United States alone, dog and cat diets account for 25-30% of the environmental toll of livestock farming. One analysis even found that a single medium-sized dog’s diet in Japan had a greater environmental footprint than the average Japanese person’s diet.

    But experts say there’s a powerful – and practical – solution. Stated Billy Nicholles, the lead author, “Switching pets to nutritionally sound vegan diets significantly mitigates our dogs and cats’ environmental ‘paw prints.’ It’s a huge opportunity to reduce the environmental burden of our food system.”

    The study examined 21 existing analyses of pet food sustainability and concluded that diet was the single largest factor driving environmental impacts. Protein choice was key: pet foods rich in animal ingredients were consistently linked to much larger environmental impacts.

    By contrast, vegan pet diets – where formulated to be nutritionally sound – offered major reductions across all impact categories. If all pet dogs worldwide were fed a vegan diet, the resulting food energy savings could feed 450 million people, according to the study. Greenhouse gas savings would exceed the UK’s annual emissions.

    “This offers huge potential,” said Professor Andrew Knight, co-author and veterinary expert. “Modern vegan pet foods are not only safe, but often healthier. And they’re vastly more sustainable.”

    The report also pointed to emerging innovations like cultivated meat and precision-fermented proteins, which are beginning to enter the pet food market. These alternatives promise the taste and nutrition of meat without the massive environmental burden.

    With consumer demand growing, the authors urge governments, brands, and the public to rethink what goes into pet food bowls. “Sustainable pet food isn’t just a niche trend,” said Nicholles. “It’s a climate solution hiding in plain sight.”

    Contact Information

    Billy Nicholles
    Pet food researcher
    billy@bryantresearch.co.uk
    +44 7921461778

    Andrew Knight
    Veterinary Professor of Animal Welfare
    andrew.knight@murdoch.edu.au

    Source: Sustainable Pet Food Foundation

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  • Addressing Climate Change by Changing Our Food Systems

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    WASHINGTON, January 14, 2025 (Newswire.com)
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    The year 2024 was the hottest year on record. For the first time the average global temperature rose to 1.6C above preindustrial levels, exceeding the 1.5C vital to preventing accelerating climate change. The effects of climate change are now visible on every continent.

    Up to a third of global greenhouse gas production to date can be attributed to animal agriculture and food systems. Yet, most climate change solutions neglect the importance of food systems in climate change mitigation. In the article, ‘Solving Climate Change Requires Changing Our Food Systems,’ published in leading scientific journal Oxford Open Climate Change, prominent scientists from around the world propose that the pressing nature of irreversible climate change requires rethinking our food systems.

    Lead researcher Dr Feigin and her co-authors assert that “we must undertake a global shift to a fundamentally plant-based diet and a gradual global reduction and eventual phaseout of intensive factory farming, the most prolific and damaging form of agriculture.”

    Our growing demand for meat and animal products is unsustainable. The FAO estimates that demand for meat will double by 2050, which would require that approximately 80% of existing forests and shrubland would have to be converted into land devoted to raising animals. Such a trajectory would have devastating consequences for us and the planet.

    “As the world population increases, food insecurity and starvation will intensify if we continue to rely on a model of food production (i.e. animal factory farming) which is extraordinarily inefficient and resource intensive”, the study authors contend. The authors present strategies to achieve a re-thinking of current food systems including the removal of government subsidies and higher taxation of animal products to account for externalized costs of animal agriculture.

    The health benefits and savings to healthcare costs of adopting a fundamentally plant-based diet are profound. Consumption of animal products contributes to the development of many chronic diseases. Moreover, “antibiotic-resistant infections in humans are associated with proximity to animal farms and are a global health threat, killing approximately 700,000 people worldwide annually,” the authors declare. The proliferation of industrialized animal farming has brought us closer than ever before to the outbreaks of lethal human zoonoses such as avian influenza (bird flu) and H1N1 (swine flu) resulting from factory farming operations.

    The authors suggest that plant-based diets pet foods should also be included in the global shift away from animal agriculture. Pet dogs and cats consume at least 9% of all livestock annually and nutritionally sound plant-based pet diets would free up large amounts of land which could be used for climate mitigation.

    Critical changes to our food system and consumption habits will require a shift in global mindset – lead author Dr Feigin states, “the future of humanity and all life on our planet depends on sustainability, and the data indicate that we will not succeed on the issue of climate change unless we change the way that we produce and consume food.”

    Source: All Life Institute

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