These Cities Aren’t Banning Meat. They Just Want You to Eat More Plants

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https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/climate/plant-based-treaty-climate.html

By Cara Buckley, The New York Times. 

Excerpt: Amsterdam ... Los Angeles ...are signatories to the Plant Based Treaty, which was launched in 2021 with the aim of calling attention to the role played by greenhouse gases that are generated by food production. ...Anita Krajnc ...and other activists modeled the Plant Based Treaty after the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which calls on governments to stop new oil, gas and coal projects. ...The first municipality to sign on was Boynton Beach, Fla., in September 2021.... Twenty-five other municipalities have since joined, including Los Angeles, Amsterdam and more than a dozen cities in India. ...Globally, food systems make up a third of planet-heating greenhouse gasses, with the environmental toll of the meat and dairy industries being particularly high. Livestock accounts for about a third of methane emissions, which have 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide in the short term. It’s also a water intensive industry. It takes 2,110 gallons of water to produce one pound of beef, 520 gallons of water to produce one pound of cheese and 410 gallons of water to produce one pound of chicken. By comparison, protein-rich lentils require 190 gallons of water per pound. ...A 2023 study from the University of Oxford found that, compared to diets heavy in meat, vegan diets resulted in 75 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, 54 percent less water use and 66 less biodiversity loss.... 

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