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This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.

Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

FACT BRIEF

Do avocados have a larger carbon footprint than beef?

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

By Lisa Freedland

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Although cultivating avocados is carbon intensive compared to other fruits and vegetables, their footprint is still much smaller than beef's.

A pack of two avocados has a carbon footprint of around 0.85 kilograms, according to a study cited by the World Economic Forum.

In comparison, CO2 Everything estimated that a 100-gram serving of beef has an average carbon footprint of 15.5 kilograms, based on data from a widely cited Science study from 2018.

For context, avocado contains 160 calories per 100 grams while beef contains 260 calories per 100 grams.

Beef's large carbon footprint is attributable to intensive land, water and feed use; methane emissions, and the inefficient conversion of plant energy to animal energy.

A study from September 2021 found that the production of animal-based foods was responsible for 57% of food production-related greenhouse gas emissions while plant-based foods were responsible for 29% of such emissions.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

World Economic Forum Avocado: the 'green gold' causing environment havoc

CO2 Everything Carbon Footprint: Beef

Science Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers

US Department of Agriculture Ground beef, cooked

US Department of Agriculture Avocado, raw

University of Michigan Carbon Footprint Factsheet

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Global greenhouse gas emissions from animal-based foods are twice those of plant-based foods

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Gigafact

Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.

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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.