What are the arguments for eating less meat?
Besvaret 1. november 2026
Research gives reasons to eat less meat in health, climate, nature and animal welfare, but they are not equally strong. The WHO's cancer agency IARC, which reviewed a large body of studies, concludes that processed meat causes bowel cancer. For unprocessed red meat, a more cautious analysis found only a weak link with bowel cancer, breast cancer, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations report both views. Most of this comes from studies that follow people's diets, which show links, not causes.
For the climate, the UN's food agency FAO puts livestock at about 12 percent of all human-caused emissions, using figures for 2015. The Danish Climate Council estimates a global gain of 2.6 to 3.9 million tonnes of CO2e a year if all Danes followed the dietary guidelines, which means far fewer animal foods.
For nature, livestock and their feed take up 80 percent of the world's farmland, according to Our World in Data. When land is turned into fields for feed or grazing, wild animals and plants lose their habitat, a Chatham House report says. The report was funded by the animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming.
For the animals themselves: conventional Danish broiler chickens are slaughtered at 34 to 37 days old, and 77.4 percent walk abnormally. More than 95 percent of Danish pigs have their tails docked, although routine docking is banned under EU rules.
Health, climate, nature and animal welfare point the same way: fewer animal foods, though the health case is strongest for processed meat.
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