this post was submitted on 16 Apr 2024
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Beef produces 85 kg CO2e per kg of food. Tofu produces 2.9 kg CO2e per kg of food. (ourworldindata.org)
submitted 2 months ago by testeronious to c/[email protected]
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[–] Cypher 7 points 2 months ago (3 children)

I was curious and went looking because I suspected it was low emissions but not how low. Research seems to suggest Kangaroo meat is significantly lower GHG per kg than tofu!

In our calculations we use 1.30 CO2 equivalents for one kilogram production of kangaroo meat which is an average of the estimates reported in the literature

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5308823/

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 months ago (1 children)

From a quick glance, it seems they didn't consider emissions coming from exporting kangaroo meat abroad. Though I fancy the total will still be way lower than the alternatives.

[–] Cypher 4 points 2 months ago

This paper focuses on Australian domestic consumption although transportation is still a factor especially with the sheer size of Australia.

I guess it’s good news that Kangaroo thrive basically anywhere that isn’t sand dunes

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

And it's cheaper. I remember in 90s Australia helped Russia not to starve by exporting kangaroo meaty

[–] Cypher 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I did not know that, I knew it used to be very cheap but it’s more than doubled in price over the last 8 years

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

It used to be the cheapest legal meat you can get in Russia.

Edit: it was also added in soldiers rations during Afganistan campaign

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The biggest difference here is not related to the animals themselves, but the scale.

Much of beef's emissions has to do with land use changes and diet which are both a necessary (but unfortunate) part of managing 1.5 billion cows to serve as a primary protein source for billions of people. In comparison, there's somewhere on the order of 30 million kangaroos on the planet (2% of the number of cows) and I'd wager the overwhelming majority of them are wild, not farmed for meat.

The difference in footprints here shows the differences in management practices and the downside of commercial ranching. If everyone on The planet switched their 0.5 servings of beef per day for 0.5 servings of kangaroos, nothing would be fundamentally different in the environmental outcomes. We'd still be clearing forests in the Amazon, just now it would be for kangaroos.

Sustainable meat consumption is only achieved through dramatic reductions in consumption. People don't have to quit meat, but it does have to become a thing reserved only for special occasions. Like it or not, the only path to sustainable food consumption requires everyone eating veggies (including the dreaded tofu) most of the time. Getting beef fed things like seaweed increases the portion of yearly meals that can include red meat sustainably, but does not somehow eliminate the fact that there majority of people's meals need to avoid red meat (sorry folks).