Climatarian Diet: Is it More Sustainable Than Veganism?

There are so many diets to choose from, and it can be hard to figure out what the motivations and restrictions are for each. However, there could be one that is indisputably better for the planet because it’s designed with the climate in mind. It’s called the climatarian diet, and while it overlaps with other eco-conscious dietary choices, this one has a few more specifics guiding it. Learn the ins and outs of this menu and see if it’s right for you. More importantly, how much of an impact does it really have?

What Is the Climatarian Diet?

The climatarian diet is a way of eating focused on reducing your carbon footprint. It is supposed to be the most climate-friendly way of eating, as it involves choosing foods with the least impact. This is a relatively new term, first coined in the 2010s, and food choices should embrace these ideals:

• Locally produced to reduce transportation emissions
• Eliminating meat or choosing pork and poultry as a lower-emissions option
• Reduces food waste by using as much of the food as possible
• Comes from organic sources to limit pollution from chemical pesticides
• Grows efficiently and has climate-resilient qualities
• Encourages biodiversity

A couple of other considerations would be how many greenhouse gases a food item produces over its growth cycle, how much it would create in landfill, how much water it requires to grow, and what kind of packaging it comes in that would generate more waste. Consider how 80% of deforestation occurs because of cattle — it’s about more than the methane at this point. There are more climate repercussions.

Many people may wonder about the difference between climatarian eating and vegetarian diets or veganism. The latter two eliminate some or all animal products for ethical reasons, suggesting animal cruelty is not a necessary part of nutrition. 

Additionally, it is one of the biggest ways to reduce individual climate impacts, because of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions the meat industry produces. So, aren’t these diets climatarian diets, too?

Defining the Climatarian Diet Against Others

There are distinct differences between the varying eco-friendly meal plans. Let’s cover the most popular and what their common restrictions are, though many variations of each exist:

• Vegetarian: Excludes meat and fish but consumes dairy and potentially eggs.
• Vegan: Excludes all animal products, including honey.
• Pescetarian: Excludes meat but includes fish and dairy.
• Flexitarian: Includes all options but actively reduces meat consumption.

As you can see, these diets are defined by what they include and don’t include. The climatarian diet doesn’t have these strict guidelines. The environmental impact of a crop or food product could change drastically over time as farmers change strategies or people design tech innovations. Is it too early to consider where lab-grown food would rank in terms of climate-friendliness? 

It’s important to note some people consider all of the aforementioned dietary choices to be climatarian diets and view the term as more of an umbrella for diet types than its own. 

These unknowns make the climatarian diet more subject to change over time compared to these aforementioned diets, which are forever restrictive. However, there have been consistent climatarian staples for awhile.

What Can You Eat on a Climatarian Diet?

Here are some tips on how to structure your diet with the climate in mind:

• Eat: Fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, seafood
• Reduce: Meats, eggs, dairy
• Limit and avoid: Processed foods, sugars, packaged food, restaurants, fast food

What does that mean for a climatarian meal plan? Unlike other diets, there are no hard and fast rules. Some recommendations are more reliable than others. For example, cutting beef and lamb saves one ton of carbon dioxide yearly, which is equal to six short airplane flights. The key difference between this diet and other sustainable diets — excluding flexitarian diets — is that it includes meat. All climatarians care about is food with low emissions, and there are ways to have meat with minimal impact. 

However, other climatarians don’t consume avocados because of the transportation required to import them. This is why some climatarian who live in avocado-growing areas could justify it, but people thousands of miles away cannot.

Is it More Sustainable Than Other Plant-Based Diets?

Experts have researched whether or not this diet is better than veganism and other plant-based, climate-conscious diets. How does it compare?

Because climatarian diets have different priorities, which can incorporate animal products, the climatarian meal plan ironically doesn’t save as many carbon emissions as a vegan or even vegetarian diet. Here is a breakdown of how many billions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions the different diets would save the planet if everyone shifted over at once:

So, how could a diet that doesn’t save as much as a vegan call itself climatarian? This diet considers the big picture, and this isn’t necessary with any of the other diets on this list. The climatarian diet does a lot of things right when considering the long-term effects of a diet which can impact local communities and economies. 

It may have more beneficial climate impacts that aren’t related to carbon emissions reductions, such as promoting environmental literacy and social equity through stabilized green jobs. 

Ultimately, carbon reduction is a large part of being eco-considerate when you eat, but dietary advocacy can have more branching priorities, which climatarians may consider more than other eco-friendly diet options.

Is the Climatarian Diet the Way to Making Eating Sustainable?

Climatarians do a lot of things right. It considers the nuances of what people eat. Just because something is a plant doesn’t necessarily mean it has a low carbon footprint. Eaters should consider the entire life of the food before consuming it if they want to take the most productive environmental perspective. 

This lifestyle is becoming so popular that people are creating apps with recipes and a few restaurants are labeling climate-friendly meals on their menus. In the future, hopefully more foods will become available for the people with this diet because people grow it in more climate-cognizant ways.