Fact-check: Misleading tins wey dem tell you about meat

For long, scientists don dey say to change our diet by replacing meat and dairy wit plant-based foods fit help fight climate change.

But changing how a whole planet dey feed no easy.

For one, food choices dey limited for some places. Pipo culture also mata, just like amount of food we eat or di way food dey produced (wit more or less impact on di environment).

To top am all, social media get plenty false and misleading claims about di links between food and climate change. Here, we torchlight di four most common ones.

Claim 1: Meat no dey cause climate change

Dis tweet wrongly claim “red meat no dey cause climate change”.

One video wey dem put for di post also suggest say dis na “lie” wey more polluting industry dey tell to “shift blame” for global warming to animals.

While burning fossil fuels for energy remain di largest contributor to climate change, food production dey also create big amounts of greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide and methane, wey dey cause global warming.

In fact, scientists estimate say up to about one third of all greenhouse gas emissions around di world dey linked to food systems. Of dis, more dan half dey linked to di production of animal-based foods.

But all animal foods no be di same: sabi pipo don find say beef and lamb, in particular, get di most damaging effect on di planet.

Dis na becos cows and sheep dey release methane into di atmosphere. Dem dey also feed off grasslands, wey dey often created by cutting down trees and forests wey dey store carbon.

Na dis one make di Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to suggest say “a shift to diets wey dey rich in plant-based foods” fit lead to “substantial reduction” of emissions.

“For pipo wey no wan become vegetarian, e get less emission-intensive alternatives, like sustainable poultry, eggs, or farmed fish,” Dr Magdalena Jensen, wey be expert in food systems and climate impacts from University of Concepción for Chile, tok.

Claim 2: plant-based diet no healthy

For one TikTok video wey dem bin watch thousands of times, one advocate for meat diets wrongly claim say human beings “no dey designed to eat plants”.

Im also suggest say eating vegetables fit come at di cost of pipo health, e kon go as far as saying “plants dey try to kill you”.

Dis kain tok no gel wit wetin pipo for di medical community.

World Health Organization (WHO) recommend diet wey dey “predominantly plant-based and low in salt, saturated fats, and added sugars” as part of healthy lifestyle.

Dem also say di limiting of consumption of red meats and processed meats (like sausages) fit help prevent heart disease, cancer, or diabetes.

“One diet wey dey rich in plant-based foods and wit fewer animal source foods dey give both improved health and [oda] benefits,” Dr Afton Halloran, wey be expert in healthy and sustainable diets from Denmark, tok.

But dat kain diet also fit carry risks.

“Individuals wey dey consume vegetarian diet need to dey aware of di risk of potential dietary deficiencies,” she tok.

No be all plant-based foods get di same health benefits too: in fact, some plant-based substitutes, like meat alternatives, fit qualify as ultra-processed foods.

Dis one mean say dem fit dey high in salt, saturated fat, and sugars - all of which don show say dem dey increase di risk of cardiovascular or heart disease plus oda health problems.

Claim 3: Plant-based diets dey worse for di planet

“[Dem] say to chop meat dey bad for di planet,” di tweet for up tok.

“But dem no say (sake of lobbies) say sole almond for California need 12 litres of water, banana 160, and a kilo of avocados 2,000 litres more”.

Posts like dis one suggest say di food wey climate-conscious consumers prefer, dey worse for di environment pass meat. Dis no necessarily be di case.

Take avocados as example.

E dey correct say to grow avocado go require about 2,000 litres of water (on average) per kilogram of fruit, according to research by IHE Delft Institute for Water Education for di Netherlands.

By any measure, dat na plenty water - and, for kontris like Peru or Chile, avocado production don place big pressure on water resources.

But producing one single kilogram of beef fit require even more water: on average, about 15,500 litres, according to Water Footprint Network.

Big part of di world avocado come from Latin America, wey mean say dem also gatz travel long distance to reach consumers around di world, using method of transport wey dey run largely on fossil fuels.

Dis don make some social media users to accuse climate-aware consumers of “hypocrisy” for choosing food items wey dem no dey grow locally.

But dem dey also ship large amounts of beef across di world evri day: just look at Brazil, di world largest exporter of beef, wey dey ship thousands of tonnes of meat go China evri year.

E also dey important to note say, for most food products, transport accounts for less dan 10% of dia greenhouse gas emissions.

“Wetin we dey chop (and di environmental impacts of producing am) mata more dan wia e from come,” Daniel Blum, one Argentine expert in sustainable food systems, tok.

Claim 4: “Elites” dey conspire to control you

You fit find posts wey dey wrongly link dietary shifts to conspiracy theories for several different languages.

Di tweet above, wey dem write for Russia, claim say “di elite” dey try “convince di public make dem eat bugs". “Wetin dey behind dis massive push to radically change our diets?” e ask enigmatically.

Posts like this one tap into well-known conspiracy theories wey allege say wealthy and powerful individuals dey secretly plot to restrict pipo freedom.

Changing diets to help tackle climate change - supposedly by forcing pipo to eat bugs and insects – na wetin dem dey see as part of dia sinister plans.

E no get evidence to back any of dis claims. In fact, for kontris like Thailand, Mexico, or Ghana, insects bin don dey part of some pipo diets for a long time.

But dis claims tap into genuine, deep-rooted feelings of injustice and inequality.

For some lower-income kontris, wia diets fit lack diversity, meat and dairy remain key source of protein and micronutrients. For oda ones, dem fit see eating meat as luxury wey dey reserved for pipo wey wealthy enough to afford am.

For dat reason, wen politicians, goments, or international bodis call on pipo to change dia diets, some fit feel say di call dey unfair, elitist, or even neocolonialist.

“While dis call dey understandable from sustainability and ethical standpoint, e currently no dey entirely feasible in our context,” Richard Kachungu, one food systems expert wey dey work wit Young Emerging Farmers Initiative for Zambia, tok.

Research also suggest say di potential economic damage wey limiting meat consumption don cause fit fall mainly on poorer kontris, wia farming and raising livestock fit still dey provide critical sources of income.

“Over-consumption of meat gatz dey drastically reduced for high- and middle-income kontris first,” Evans Muswahili Ladema from Lake Region Food Systems Network, one NGO for Kenya, tok.

For dose kontris, shift for diet still remain mata of personal choice: so far, no goment don impose ban on di consumption of meat or dairy on climate grounds, and e no get any suggestion say dem fit dey plan am.

But “wetin we dey eat simply need to change,” Dr Halloran, tok.