Halve meat consumption to ‘slash nitrogen pollution’

Halving the amount of meat and dairy eaten in Europe could slash nitrogen pollution from agriculture, improve health and boost food exports, a study has suggested.

Around four-fifths of nitrogen emissions in the European Union come from agriculture, for example from fertiliser and manure, and between 79% and 88% of the sector’s nitrogen losses into the environment are linked to livestock production.

Nitrogen emissions in the form of ammonia, nitrates and nitrous oxide can cause air, water and soil pollution and account for around 10% of the warming caused by greenhouse gases, experts said.

If everyone in the EU became “demitarian” — halving the amount of meat and other animal products they consumed — it could reduce greenhouse gases from agriculture by 25% to 40% and nitrogen emissions by 40%, the European Nitrogen Assessment’s “nitrogen on the table” report said.

It would also bring European consumption of saturated fats down to within levels recommended by the World Health Organisation and reduce red meat and protein consumption, cutting the risk of heart disease and cancer. Because around 80% of crops are fed to livestock, reducing meat and dairy consumption would free up land for other crops, or for plants grown to produce bio-energy.

It would also slash soya bean imports to the EU by around three-quarters.

But with livestock production responsible for 60% of the output of EU agriculture, a radical change in diets could have a major economic impact, although there could be a boost in revenue from increased cereal production and export.

The study, which did not include sheep and goat products, found there were large differences between the nitrogen “footprint” of different types of food, with 25 times as much nitrogen being lost to the environment per unit of food protein from beef than cereals.

The report’s lead author Henk Westhoek, from the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, said: “The report shows that the nitrogen footprint of meat and dairy is considerably higher than that from plant-based products.

The report’s co-author Professor Mark Sutton, from the UK’s Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, said: “From the environmental point of view, it’s not about whether you eat meat and dairy or not, it’s about how much.”