Climatarian diet is a

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

focused on reducing the

climate footprint A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, service, place or product, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Greenhouse gases, including the carbon-containing gases carbo ...

Etymology

The term first appeared around the mid-2010s, with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' including it on its list of new food-related words in 2015, where it was defined as "a diet whose primary goal is to reverse

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

". The word itself is a portmanteau of the noun "

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

" and the splinter word "-tarian", which has come to refer to someone with a dietary restriction.

Suggested ways reduce dietary carbon footprint

Climate-centered diets do not involve strict rules so much as mindfulness about food production, such as where food comes from, and where it goes. The Core Principles involve eating locally, reducing meat consumption or choosing lower-impact meats, and eliminating

food waste Food loss and waste is food that is not eaten. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous and occur throughout the food system, during production, processing, distribution, retail and food service sales, and consumption. Overall, about o ...

wherever possible. Suggestions include: * Eat "land-efficient" foods * Eat less feedlot beef * Buy local * Buy organic * Eat drought-hardy crops * Cut down on food waste

Motivation

The climatarian diet is supposed to carry dual benefits, not only for the consumer, who will enjoy healthier diet, but also for the planet as a whole, by reducing the climate impact of food production. Proponents of climatarianism claim that the diet is based on clear scientific data, as it seeks to reduce the consumption of those foods that are identified as the largest emitters of

greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs and Emission (electromagnetic radiation), emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse ...

es responsible for climate change. One of the main ways in which climatarians strive to make their food consumption less environmentally harmful is by avoiding eating

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantity ...

and

lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

. According to a 2014 study, "beef used 28 times more land, 11 times more water and emitted five times more greenhouse gases than the production of either

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved; ...

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, quails, a ...

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

." It has also been calculated that the carbon footprint of beef is well over the equivalent of 20,000 g of per kilo, while fish is just under 4,500 g, and poultry is around 4,000 g. Beans and dried fruit are under the equivalent of 2,000 g of per kilo, while

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s and seasonal fruit use less than 1,000 g. Other goals of the climatarian diet consist of eating many vegetables, choosing locally produced food and using all parts of an animal when eating meat, in order to reduce waste.

Climatarian app

In 2016, the Australian climate group Less Meat Less Heat launched a crowdfunding campaign in order to develop an app that will make it easier for consumers to eat in an environmental-conscious way. The app was launched in November 2016 and is meant to encourage users to reduce their food-based footprint to less than 80 kilograms of carbon per month.

Notes

Ethical consumerism Diets {{food-stub