Report environmental impact of Belgian food consumption

This research analyzed data from the Belgian National Food Consumption Survey, conducted between 2014 and 2015 by Sciensano. The average meat consumption was 182.2 grams/day in this representative population sample of Belgian adults. The daily diets when individuals who consumed meat resulted in approximately twice the greenhouse gas emissions than those who did not consume meat: 5.99 kg CO2-eq/day and 3.02 kg CO2-eq/day for meat days and meat-free days, respectively. Similar patterns have been observed for land use, with 7.95 and 3.25 m2·year/day for meat days and meat-free days, respectively. If individuals were to replace meat by meat replacers (such as vegetarian or vegan meat imitates, eggs, legumes, and nuts/seeds) in their daily diets, it could potentially lead to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 2.62 kg CO2-eq/day and land use of 3.64 m2·year/day, representing a decrease of 37.8% and 36.4%, respectively. Therefore, limiting meat consumption has the potential to substantially reduce the environmental impact of food consumption in Belgium.