Comparison of environmental impacts of individual meals - Does it really make a difference to choose plant-based meals instead of meat-based ones?

More than one third of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) can be attributed to our food system. Limiting warming 1.5° or 2 °C will not possible without reducing GHG from the Dietary change at meal level is great importance as day-to-day consumption patterns drive production The aim this paper was assess life cycle environmental impact a sample meals different cuisines (chilli, lasagne, curry and teriyaki meals) their meat-based, vegetarian, vegan, whole-food vegan recipe variations. impacts (global warming, freshwater eutrophication, terrestrial acidification water depletion potential) 13 meals, made with 33 ingredients, were estimated cradle plate using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Results showed that irrespective type cuisine, plant-based version (vegan vegan) had substantially lower across all categories vegetarian meat-based versions. On average, 14 times higher impact, while 3 meals. Substantial reductions in achieved when animal-based ingredients (e.g., beef, cheese, pork, chicken) are replaced whole minimally processed (i.e., vegetables, legumes) recipes. Swapping for versions, preferably transitioning diets, present important opportunities mitigating climate safeguarding sustainability.