Pimentel David, Pimentel Marcia
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Sep;78(3 Suppl):660S-663S. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/78.3.660S.
Worldwide, an estimated 2 billion people live primarily on a meat-based diet, while an estimated 4 billion live primarily on a plant-based diet. The US food production system uses about 50% of the total US land area, 80% of the fresh water, and 17% of the fossil energy used in the country. The heavy dependence on fossil energy suggests that the US food system, whether meat-based or plant-based, is not sustainable. The use of land and energy resources devoted to an average meat-based diet compared with a lactoovovegetarian (plant-based) diet is analyzed in this report. In both diets, the daily quantity of calories consumed are kept constant at about 3533 kcal per person. The meat-based food system requires more energy, land, and water resources than the lactoovovegetarian diet. In this limited sense, the lactoovovegetarian diet is more sustainable than the average American meat-based diet.
在全球范围内，估计有20亿人主要以肉食为主食，而另有约40亿人主要以植物性食物为主食。美国的食品生产系统占用了美国约50%的土地总面积、80%的淡水以及该国17%的化石能源。对化石能源的严重依赖表明，美国的食品系统，无论是以肉食为主还是以植物性食物为主，都是不可持续的。本报告分析了与乳蛋素食（植物性）饮食相比，用于平均肉食饮食的土地和能源资源的使用情况。在这两种饮食中，人均每日消耗的热量数量保持恒定，约为3533千卡。与乳蛋素食饮食相比，肉食为主的食品系统需要更多的能源、土地和水资源。从这个有限的意义上来说，乳蛋素食饮食比普通美国肉食为主的饮食更具可持续性。
