The Unexpected Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

jpgiovannettone
Nov 17, 2025
3 min read

A few years ago I watched the movie "The Game Changers," which follows one athlete who goes on a quest to find the optimal diet that fosters human health and performance by visiting with other athletes from a variety of sports. Those interviewed speak about how they have been able to build muscle and endurance without eating meat, which is contrary to the common belief that meat is required to supply the protein necessary to maximize muscle growth and performance.

As part of the conversation, the movie briefly discusses how the meat industry is a detriment not only to human health but to environmental health and sustainability as well. Below are some of the figures that were presented:

The single largest source of habitat destruction is the livestock sector.
Meat, dairy, egg, and fish farming use 83% of the world's farmland.
These same types of food provide only 18% of the world's calories.
Animals consume approximately 6 times more protein than they produce. This means that eating meat is much less efficient in terms of protein intake when compared to directly eating plants and grains.
More than 70 billion animals are consumed each year.
Clearing land to feed so many livestock is one of the leading drivers of land use change and deforestation.
About 27% of the freshwater consumed by humans goes into the production of animal feed. In fact, it is estimated that one hamburger accounts for 2,400 liters of embedded water.
In the United States, farm animals produce almost 50 times more waste each year than the nation's human population.
The livestock sector accounts for nearly 15% of global man-made greenhouse gas emissions, which is approximately equal to the emissions from all forms of transportation throughout the world.
Total meat consumption in the United States is almost 3 times the global average.
Shifting to a plant-based diet within the United States would reduce agricultural emissions by over 70% and save 1 million liters of water per person per year.
On a global level, such a shift would free up an area of land equal to the size of Africa; this would relieve the pressure that many endangered species and ecosystems are struggling with today.

Many of the above figures originally came from a research article published in Science: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6392/987. In an attempt to further validate this information, I have also included the following figure provided by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2018, the results of which are similar to the findings of the Science article.

According to the FAO, in 2018 about 50% of all habitable land on the planet was used for agricultural purposes. Of this land, about 77% was used for livestock grazing and to grow the crops that are used to feed these animals; the other 23% was used to grow food that we ourselves will eat. In contrast, we on average only received 17% of our calories and 33% of our protein from products originating from livestock (e.g. meat, eggs, dairy, and fish) with the remainder coming from plant-based food. Livestock also contributed nearly 7% of current greenhouse gas emissions, though total contributions that take into account transportation, packaging, and other sources increase the percentage to near 15%.

I am not trying to turn anyone into a vegetarian here, but I do want to bring some awareness to the implications of a meat-based diet. Reducing the amount of meat in one's diet will reap multiple environmental benefits in terms of lower amounts of freshwater usage, reduced global greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced rates of land use change and deforestation, leading to increased biodiversity and ecosystem recovery.

Since I grew up in South Dakota, I understand the importance of meat consumption for some, particularly within the rural communities where meat is a staple every time you sit at the kitchen table. But I do want to make everyone aware of the potential consequences, and if one family decides to eat meat at only two meals per day instead of three, that is a small win for the environment as well as for the family's overall health.

Helpful Hints

Watch the movie "The Game Changers," which is available on YouTube. Be aware that there is some foul language and that one part of the movie discusses a part of the body that may seem inappropriate to some, but overall I think it is very enlightening and inspirational.
Replace at least one additional meat-based meal each month with a plant-based meal.