With rain forecast across much of the UK tonight, many Brits will be planning to curl up on the sofa and order takeaway.
But a new study may make you reconsider your options.
Scientists in Singapore have revealed the popular dishes that are worst for the environment.
Many of these dishes are meat-based, such as Brazilian steak, chicken jalfrezi, and spicy beef stew.
However, you may be surprised to know that many others, such as bean curry and lentil soup, are plant-based.
With rain forecast across much of the UK tonight, many Brits will be planning to curl up on the sofa and order takeaway. But a new study may make you reconsider your options. Singapore scientists have revealed the popular dishes that are worst for the environment
Scientists typically warn about the carbon footprint, which refers to the amount of carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere as a result of our activities.
Instead, this study looked at the “biodiversity footprint,” which refers to the degree to which the habitats of plant and animal species are affected.
An example is deforestation, the process of cutting down trees often to make room for crops, which destroys the homes of species.
“The biodiversity footprint gives us an idea of ​​how many species we are pushing to extinction by eating that plate,” the authors said.
For the study, the team estimated how 151 different popular dishes from around the world impact biodiversity.
Although the term “biodiversity footprint” usually includes plants and fungi, the scientists only looked at three kinds of animals: mammals, birds and amphibians.
The authors used lists of popular dishes taken from CNN.com and TasteAtlas.com, standardizing each dish to have an energy intake of 825 kilocalories (kcal).
They observed the number of mammals, birds and amphibian species affected by the production of each ingredient, taking into account their distribution and conservation status.
This study looked at the “biodiversity footprint,” which instead refers to the degree to which the habitats of plant and animal species are affected. An example is deforestation: the process of cutting down trees often to make room for crops, which destroys the homes of species.
The authors used lists of popular dishes taken from CNN.com and TasteAtlas.com, standardizing each dish at 825 kCal. They calculated the biodiversity footprint of each dish’s ingredient by looking at the richness, conservation status and variety of wild mammals, birds and amphibians within the agricultural land used for the specific product.
In general, the dishes with the highest biodiversity footprint included several Brazilian meat dishes (picanha, churrasco, fraldinha).
Other meat dishes included pork green sauce, chicken jalfrezi, yukgaejang (a spicy Korean meat and vegetable stew), and chicken broth (chicken soup).
But the list also included several vegan dishes like dal (lentil soup), rajma (a bean curry), chana masala (chickpea curry) and idli (a savory fermented rice cake).
Additionally, there was cheese broth (a simple soup made of potato, tomato, onion, chili and oregano) and gyeran mari (an omelet with chopped vegetables).
Scientists say these meals require clearing the animals’ habitats to make way for the growth of the ingredients.
On the contrary, dishes with a lower biodiversity footprint tended to be vegetarian or vegan, starchy, and based on cereals or potatoes.
Examples include French fry-style recipes such as pommes frites and triple-cooked French fries, kartoffelpuffer (a German potato pancake), and baguettes.
The researchers found that biodiversity footprint scores changed depending on whether the ingredient was of local or global origin and whether it was grown industrially or on a small scale.
In the photo, yukgaejang, a spicy Korean stew of meat and vegetables, and one of the worst dishes that impacts biodiversity.
Dishes with a high biodiversity footprint tended to be from India and included chicken jalfrezi (a type of tomato-based chicken curry), chicken chaat, chana masala, idli (a savory rice cake, pictured), and rajma (red bean curry).
In general, dishes made with local products could be the best option.
“Buying locally if done in developed countries like the UK would certainly help reduce the biodiversity footprint,” study author Professor Román Carrasco from NUS told MailOnline.
“One problem with organic foods is that their production is less efficient and requires more land, leading to trade-offs.”
The authors emphasize that their study does not look at the carbon emissions of each meal, but rather the degree to which it destroys animal habitats.
It is well known that beef is one of the worst foods in terms of carbon emissions, but when biodiversity is considered separately the picture is different.
A future study could combine biodiversity and carbon footprint to find the ultimate environmental impact of various foods.
According to Professor Carrasco and his colleagues, their study can help make “sustainable food decisions more accessible to consumers.”
“Small changes in the dish we choose to eat and where we get the ingredients from can go a long way toward preventing species extinction,” they state in their article.
“A combination of consumer awareness is imperative to facilitate a transition towards sustainable diets to mitigate the large impacts of food production on biodiversity.”
The study was published today in the journal Plus one.
The graph ranks the species richness of various food ingredients: species richness is the number of mammal, bird and amphibian species affected by the production of each ingredient for