Land Use and Reactive Nitrogen Discharge: Effects of Dietary Choices

Abstract

Abstract Modern agriculture alters natural biological and geophysical processes, with magnitudes proportional to its spatial extent. Cultivation is also the main cause of artificially enhanced reactive nitrogen (Nr) availability in natural ecosystems. Sustainable food production should thus minimize Nr use while maximizing human-destined caloric output per acre. The authors demonstrate that it is possible to design realistic, nutritionally sound plant-based diets that require a quarter to a half of the Nr and a quarter to a third of the land the mean American diet’s animal-based portion does. Broad application of these findings (e.g., by incorporating environmental considerations into official dietary recommendations) would reduce food production’s environmental impacts dramatically.