Fertilizing feed for animals produces nitrous oxide emissions, a greenhouse gas 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. When animals eat this feed and produce manure, it generates methane emissions, which are 80 times more powerful than CO2. Plowing up grassland and forest to grow feed for animals also releases carbon from soil into the atmosphere. By contrast, plant-based and other alternative proteins produce fewer greenhouse gases and require less land.

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Featured articles
Guest articles from Culinary Nutritionist and Author Stefanie Sacks

Stefanie Sacks is a Culinary Nutritionist and Author of “What the Fork Are You Eating?” exploring the link between a healthier diet and a healthier environment. She provides straightforward advice and encouragement to anyone looking to improve their nutrition and protect the planet.

Person cutting radicchio
Simple, nutritious and delicious meatless recipes
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Stefanie Sacks cooking
Considering renourishment: An important dialogue about human and environmental health
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The 101 on a plant-centered food lifestyle and how your choices at home can help
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Using EWG Food Scores to navigate plant-based meats and how to swap in plants
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Getting started on your plant-powered kitchen
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Salad
Cooking with plants: get your hands dirty with protein
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Making healthier food choices part of a busy daily routine
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Child eating brocolli
Kids and plant-based proteins: Getting your children on board
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Mother and daughter cooking
Plant-centered recipe resources for a healthy lifestyle
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EWG Areas of Focus
Factory Farms

Raising thousands of livestock in close confinement requires huge open pits of manure, urine and other waste. People living nearby can become overwhelmed by the stench and may suffer from respiratory problems and have a greater risk of death from serious disease.  

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Topics
Explore related issues
Cows

Farming & Agriculture

EWG works to find innovative ways to protect your health and environment while ensuring a sustainable future for America’s working farmers.
Farm

Conservation

USDA's conservation programs are the single largest investment of federal taxpayer's dollars to encourage farmers to adopt practices that improve natural resources and the environment. 
Farm

Climate & Agriculture

The science is clear: If we don’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food and farming, we can’t avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Factory Farms

Large-scale agriculture isn’t just a nuisance, but a health threat to the people living nearby — disproportionately people of color and low-income communities. 

Farm Pollution

Conventional agriculture can pollute rivers, lakes and tap water with unsafe levels of toxic chemicals. EWG offers science-based information to learn more.

Food & Farm Workers

America’s food system relies on food and farm workers, who often have little to no protection against diseases like COVID-19. EWG wants to fix the system.
Money and grains

Subsidies

EWG’s Farm Subsidy Database reveals that taxpayers are mostly supporting big, rich farms, not sustainable family farms that truly need help. We’re working to change the broken system.

Toxic Algae

Lakes, reservoirs, rivers and streams are critical sources of drinking water. But they’re threatened by toxic algae blooms, fueled by polluted runoff from farms and made worse by climate change.
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