When people ask why this forum pairs veganism with Solarpunk, this is why. The biggest study on food's footprint (Poore & Nemecek, ~38,000 farms, 119 countries) found that food accounts for over a quarter of global emissions, and that plant-rich diets are one of the highest-impact changes an individual can make.
The full data story, beautifully visualized: https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food
Two numbers that stuck with me:
• Beef produces roughly 30–60x the emissions of legumes per gram of protein
• If everyone shifted plant-heavy, global farmland use could shrink by ~75% — an area the size of North America plus Brazil returned to forest and wild habitat
What number, study, or moment shifted things for you? And to the vegan-curious reading this: ask us anything, judgment-free. That's the rule here.