It has never been so clear that we have to change something NOW to stop climate change and thus save the world. It is also becoming increasingly clear that meat consumption is contributing to the negative change. But how bad is it really?
In this context , we have made calculations that show that Germany can reduce its total annual consumption of greenhouse gas emissions by 50 million tons with just one vegan meal per week could lower .
Big impact through plant-based nutrition
50. million. Metric tons. Greenhouse gases. This is equivalent to 5.5 times the annual consumption of the city of Munich .
That's not a typo either - no. So if Germany gives up meat once a week and uses vegan alternatives instead, we can save the environment.
A study by the Boston Consulting Group confirms that switching to a plant-based diet is one of the most effective measures to combat climate change.
How did we calculate that?
The basis for this is, among other things, the report on the meat market and supply situation in 2022, which was published by the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food.
It shows that the average per capita consumption of beef in Germany is around 13.7 kilograms per year . Considering of greenhouse gas emissions caused by beef results in a total amount of greenhouse gas emissions per year.
In order to save 50 million tons, it is then assumed that everyone replaces one meat meal per week (consisting of approx. 100 grams of beef ) with a plant-based alternative (consisting of approx. 215 grams of Greenforce product, e.g. Easy To Mix Burger ) replaced.
This number was then multiplied by the total German population to calculate the final savings.
Pea proteins are particularly sustainable
Compared to 100 grams of beef protein, the same amount of plant protein (we use mostly pea protein) produces 113 times fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
This is largely due to the fact that raising animals for meat production has a much higher environmental impact than growing plants for the production of plant-based foods. Growing legumes such as peas has the additional advantage that it binds nitrogen from the air and therefore requires almost no mineral nitrogen fertilizer.
50 million tons in relation
According to the Federal Environment Agency, a total of 762 million tons of CO2e were consumed in Germany in 2021. CO2e refers to the unit of measurement for standardizing the different greenhouse gases. The well-known CO2 is just one of them. Methane is also one of these greenhouse gases.
A household (= older single-family home) that is heated with gas requires around 20,000 kilowatt hours per year, which translates into around 4 tonnes of CO2. This means that with a saving of 50 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of around 12 million households could be heated for a year.
To offset this amount by planting trees, we would have to plant around 4 billion trees . In order to offset all your emissions and excess CO2, you would have to plant 440 trees per year. Since Germany is a very forested country, we are lucky that around a third of the total area is covered with forest. There are around 90 billion trees on these 11.4 million hectares of forest area. We would have to reforest 4.5% of Germany's total forest area annually to offset these emissions.
Saving the world would be so easy
Imagine if saving the world was that easy. All you would have to do is give up meat once a week. Would you do it?
We at GREENFORCE have been revolutionizing the market since 2020. Our goal is for you to be able to enjoy delicious, sustainable and healthy meat, fish, egg and milk alternatives without really having to give up anything. You can still enjoy delicious meat dishes like bolognese, or egg dishes like omelette.
We already have 40 products available and are constantly developing more. For example, do you already know our new vegan baking mixes ?
