Will going vegan save the planet?

You mightn’t happen to have a piece of cheese about you, now? No? Well, many’s the long night I’ve dreamed of cheese – toasted, mostly.” Marooned for three years on Treasure Island, Ben Gunn may be desperate in his yearning for cheese, but plenty of people will sympathise as they reluctantly try veganism this January. The organisers of Veganuary estimate that 350,000 people will be switching to a plant-based diet this month. Many, including myself, will have been panicked into action by the threat of irreversible climate change, or shamed into it by brilliantly single-minded young people. 

In fact, ever since Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thunberg and millions of school children took to the streets to demand climate action, I have been attempting to change my diet. Every time I switch out dairy or meat, however, I question whether the alternatives really are better for the environment. 

Dr Adrian Williams, who specialises in environmental systems at Cranfield University, says: “That all sounds very noble and almost impossible to answer.” The hint of mockery is fair. My question undoubtedly stems from a love of cheese, and dislike of tea made with milk alternatives.