The news of the day will leave many people perplexed, especially if instead of reading this article first, where I will report the official data of the research behind the news, they will read the conclusions of many articles that are now appearing on the net. The news is as follows: a diet with a higher per capita consumption of whole grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables and fish , of the DASH type or vegetarian or peach-vegan or even vegan diet, which the US guidelines of the USDA have since 2010 referred to as a “healthy diet” can instead be a serious problem for the ecosystem , according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University .

Who have hypothesized three scenarios: one in which we all learn to moderate ourselves at the table and waste less food; one in which we eat more fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and fish among animal proteins, reducing to zero the consumption of meat and derivatives, milk and derivatives, minimizing that of eggs (according to the USDA Dietary Guidelines) without reducing the intake caloric per capita; one in which we moderate at the table but use the foods of the second scenario.

The result? Only in the first case would the environmental impact be reduced , but both in the second and in the third we would harm our ecosystem, increasing gas production, water and energy waste. How can this be explained?
Simple: monocultures emit gas, and the more they spread to the detriment of prairies and forest or wooded areas, the more water and energy are needed for their livelihood. Same thing for crops, while paradoxically the ox, eating grass and producing fertilizer, would be more eco-sustainable than soy and its derivatives.