Giving up meat and dairy is the single most effective way a person can reduce their environmental impact, new research has found.

The meta-analysis, published in the journal Science, analyzed data from 750 studies, encompassing 40,000 farms in 119 countries.

The researchers found that while meat and dairy products provide 18 per cent of all calories and 37 per cent of all protein, its production uses 83 per cent of farmland and produces 60 per cent of the agriculture industry’s greenhouse gas emissions.

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