Mitigating climate change through diet choice: Costs and CO2 emissions of different cookery book-based dietary options in Germany

The human-food sector is one of the most challenging areas when it comes to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. In this study, recipes from similar cookery books were analysed to identify the extent to which CO2 reduction can be achieved cost-effectively by cooking vegan, ovo-lacto-vegetarian or meat-containing recipes. A total of 311 recipes from six different German omnivorous, vegetarian and vegan cookery books were analysed in terms of GHG emissions and costs. The results illustrate that, based on calories, the vegan recipes on average lead to a 10% reduction in GHGs compared to vegetarian recipes and a 65% reduction compared to recipes high in meat. The costs for vegan recipes are 45% higher than those for vegetarian recipes. The relatively high prices for vegan dishes result from the cost of meat and dairy replacement products. Overall, GHG emissions from vegan recipes are only slightly lower than those from vegetarian recipes.