Ordering plant based meals at fast food restaurants can reduce your carbon footprint

Our food choices have a very real impact on the environment and billions of animals every year. This is why 4 in every 10 Aussies are now working to reduce their high meat intake, and this includes at the drive-through.

Our new Shifting the Menu report by the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS shows that by simply switching from a beef patty to a plant based beef patty, you could reduce the global warming potential of your personal meal by 90%. Or just swapping a chicken patty for a plant based one could reduce the impact you have on the climate by 60%.

Moreover, choosing a plant based beef patty over a regular beef patty will help reduce land and water usage by a whopping 94% each.

Rochelle Flood, Campaign Manager, World Animal Protection said:

This report is telling us that a quick burger doesn’t have to cost the earth, with individuals able to greatly reduce their climate footprint with a plant-based patty. Unfortunately, fast-food giants KFC and McDonald’s are not giving their customers the choice, surprisingly offering zero plant-based meal items on their menus.

The food sector has a huge impact on the environment and given most of us regularly eat at fast-food outlets, these companies have a responsibility to provide their customers with permanent plant-based options. KFC and McDonald’s have a golden opportunity to step up to the plate and reduce their climate footprint, while allowing Aussies to also reduce theirs.

Meat and other animal products in fast food restaurants often come from low-welfare and high-emission farming systems, so opting for their plant based alternatives instead will help you reduce your climate impact as well as animal suffering to a great extent.

Stuart White, Director of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS said:

This research confirms that there are significant environmental benefits from switching out meat options for plant-based options in our fast-food choices. Greenhouse gas emissions from the food sector have received less attention than the energy sector, and yet contribute one-third of emissions if we account for the whole food chain.

Australia is one of the highest emitters compared to other countries, and we also consume more fast food, therefore we can make a bigger difference by making a simple choice when we visit a fast-food restaurant.

“This research should also be of interest to fast food proprietors, they can do their bit by making more plant-based options available and promoting them.

The transition to a low emission, sustainable and cruelty-free food system can easily be achieved if we eat less meat and more plant based meals. If we do still choose to eat some meat, it's important to choose the highest welfare options available.

Let us all do our bit to protect our planet, give animals better lives and improve our overall health. Call on KFC to offer kinder menu options. 

Choosing a plant based beef patty over a regular beef patty will help reduce land and water usage by a whopping 94% each.