Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Jayne Buxton, The Great Plant-Based Con book author, claims eating plants will NOT save the planet. Let's fact check that.
0:00 Intro
0:12 Jayne Buxton pushes back
1:18 Painting a target on Ancel Keys
2:01 Who Jayne trusts
2:53 Part 1: CO2 and methane
5:05 What is GWP?
8:41 Beef's impact
10:05 Part 2: Greedy, thirsty cows
10:43 Regenerative agriculture
14:00 Beef's real impact
16:45 Why a plants-only diet isn't green
18:37 My conclusion about climate
REFERENCES
Tweet re: Plant Chompers on Great Plant Based Con - Jayne Rees Buxton (2022)
twitter.com/JayneReesBuxton/status/1550449494621409280
The Big Fat Surprise: A critical review - Seth Yoder (2015)
thedietwars.com/the-big-fat-surprise-a-critical-review-part-1-by-seth-yoder
The Big Fat Surprise: A response to critics (“mistakes were made”) - Nina Teicholz (2015)
thebigfatsurprise.com/response-critics
Ancel Keys interview: “eat mostly plants” - Ancel Keys (1994)
youtube.com/watch?v=FbqrsxKLkHQ&t=325s
Ep. 4: Jayne Rees Buxton on "The Great Plant Based Con" with Dr Brian Kerley - Tucker Goodrich (2022)
youtube.com/watch?v=X4BrcUyIci0
Tweet of Myles Allen quote re: beef impact - Frédéric Leroy (2022)
twitter.com/fleroy1974/status/1511244558553726980
‘We don’t need to eliminate livestock farming to stop global warming’ - Farming Independent (2022)
https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/forestry-enviro/we-dont-need-to-eliminate-livestock-farming-to-stop-global-warming-top-scientist-41520699.html
Are cows getting a bad greenhouse gas rap? - Conversations That Matter w/ Myles Allen (2020)
youtube.com/watch?v=_Et_7Ob7zDY&t=210s
Plot: Motivation for GWP*; Climate metrics for ruminant livestock - Myles Allen et al (2019)
oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/climate-metrics-for-ruminant-livestock
Plot: Methane gas continues to rise, originally from NOAA - BBC (2021)
bbc.com/news/science-environment-56933443
Why methane should be treated differently to long-lived GHGs - Michelle Cain (2019)
youtube.com/watch?v=w9cz5PDo2UQ
Oxford University presentation: The road to sustainable agriculture - Joseph Poore (2019)
youtube.com/watch?v=KFQn8v9Jvp0
Health and nutritional aspects of sustainable diet strategies and their association with environmental impacts: a global modeling analysis with country-level detail - Marco Springmann et al (2018)
thelancet.com/journals/lanpla/article/PIIS2542-5196(18)30206-7/fulltext
Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers - Joseph Poole et al (2018)
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0216
Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits - Marco Springmann et al (2018)
nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0594-0
What is the real carbon footprint of foods? - Bondevett (2020)
medium.com/@bondevett/what-is-the-carbon-footprint-of-foods-244cf89154fc
Greenhouse gas emissions from food, short vs long-lived gasses - Hannah Ritchie (2020)
ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane
Agriculture's Sustainability Story - American Farm Bureau (2019)
youtube.com/watch?v=1rdy5yooow0
Carbon footprint evaluation of regenerative grazing at White Oak Pastures - Quantis (2019)
blog.whiteoakpastures.com/hubfs/WOP-LCA-Quantis-2019.pdf
Can cattle be good for the planet? White Oaks infographic - Andrea Romero, EPIC provisions, and General Mills
https://andrearomero.design/better-meat
Ecosystem Impacts and Productive Capacity of a Multi-Species Pastured Livestock System (White Oaks regenerative agriculture) - Jason Rowntree et al (2020)
frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2020.544984/full
Grazed & Confused - Tara Garnett (2017)
oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/grazed-and-confused
David R. Montgomery books on regenerative agriculture - The Dirt Trilogy (2012 - 2022)
dig2grow.com/books
Growing a Revolution - David R. Montgomery (2017)
youtube.com/watch?v=c4p-kQ6D8aA
Meet the people getting paid to kill our planet - New York Times (2022)
youtube.com/watch?v=kOcLyyVyb6o
Feeding 1.4 Billion: Inside China's largest dairy farm - China Global Television Network (2019)
youtube.com/watch?v=QnNVX7ViOZU
Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life - David Montgomery (2018)
youtu.be/FZ22IV2tDvs?t=3060
Soy production - Our world in data - Hannah Ritchie et al (2018)
ourworldindata.org/soy
Jayne Buxton, The Great Plant-Based Con book author, claims eating plants will NOT save the planet. Let's fact check that.
0:00 Intro
0:12 Jayne Buxton pushes back
1:18 Painting a target on Ancel Keys
2:01 Who Jayne trusts
2:53 Part 1: CO2 and methane
5:05 What is GWP?
8:41 Beef's impact
10:05 Part 2: Greedy, thirsty cows
10:43 Regenerative agriculture
14:00 Beef's real impact
16:45 Why a plants-only diet isn't green
18:37 My conclusion about climate
REFERENCES
Tweet re: Plant Chompers on Great Plant Based Con - Jayne Rees Buxton (2022)
twitter.com/JayneReesBuxton/status/1550449494621409280
The Big Fat Surprise: A critical review - Seth Yoder (2015)
thedietwars.com/the-big-fat-surprise-a-critical-review-part-1-by-seth-yoder
The Big Fat Surprise: A response to critics (“mistakes were made”) - Nina Teicholz (2015)
thebigfatsurprise.com/response-critics
Ancel Keys interview: “eat mostly plants” - Ancel Keys (1994)
youtube.com/watch?v=FbqrsxKLkHQ&t=325s
Ep. 4: Jayne Rees Buxton on "The Great Plant Based Con" with Dr Brian Kerley - Tucker Goodrich (2022)
youtube.com/watch?v=X4BrcUyIci0
Tweet of Myles Allen quote re: beef impact - Frédéric Leroy (2022)
twitter.com/fleroy1974/status/1511244558553726980
‘We don’t need to eliminate livestock farming to stop global warming’ - Farming Independent (2022)
https://www.independent.ie/business/farming/forestry-enviro/we-dont-need-to-eliminate-livestock-farming-to-stop-global-warming-top-scientist-41520699.html
Are cows getting a bad greenhouse gas rap? - Conversations That Matter w/ Myles Allen (2020)
youtube.com/watch?v=_Et_7Ob7zDY&t=210s
Plot: Motivation for GWP*; Climate metrics for ruminant livestock - Myles Allen et al (2019)
oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/climate-metrics-for-ruminant-livestock
Plot: Methane gas continues to rise, originally from NOAA - BBC (2021)
bbc.com/news/science-environment-56933443
Why methane should be treated differently to long-lived GHGs - Michelle Cain (2019)
youtube.com/watch?v=w9cz5PDo2UQ
Oxford University presentation: The road to sustainable agriculture - Joseph Poore (2019)
youtube.com/watch?v=KFQn8v9Jvp0
Health and nutritional aspects of sustainable diet strategies and their association with environmental impacts: a global modeling analysis with country-level detail - Marco Springmann et al (2018)
thelancet.com/journals/lanpla/article/PIIS2542-5196(18)30206-7/fulltext
Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers - Joseph Poole et al (2018)
science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaq0216
Options for keeping the food system within environmental limits - Marco Springmann et al (2018)
nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0594-0
What is the real carbon footprint of foods? - Bondevett (2020)
medium.com/@bondevett/what-is-the-carbon-footprint-of-foods-244cf89154fc
Greenhouse gas emissions from food, short vs long-lived gasses - Hannah Ritchie (2020)
ourworldindata.org/carbon-footprint-food-methane
Agriculture's Sustainability Story - American Farm Bureau (2019)
youtube.com/watch?v=1rdy5yooow0
Carbon footprint evaluation of regenerative grazing at White Oak Pastures - Quantis (2019)
blog.whiteoakpastures.com/hubfs/WOP-LCA-Quantis-2019.pdf
Can cattle be good for the planet? White Oaks infographic - Andrea Romero, EPIC provisions, and General Mills
https://andrearomero.design/better-meat
Ecosystem Impacts and Productive Capacity of a Multi-Species Pastured Livestock System (White Oaks regenerative agriculture) - Jason Rowntree et al (2020)
frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2020.544984/full
Grazed & Confused - Tara Garnett (2017)
oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/grazed-and-confused
David R. Montgomery books on regenerative agriculture - The Dirt Trilogy (2012 - 2022)
dig2grow.com/books
Growing a Revolution - David R. Montgomery (2017)
youtube.com/watch?v=c4p-kQ6D8aA
Meet the people getting paid to kill our planet - New York Times (2022)
youtube.com/watch?v=kOcLyyVyb6o
Feeding 1.4 Billion: Inside China's largest dairy farm - China Global Television Network (2019)
youtube.com/watch?v=QnNVX7ViOZU
Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life - David Montgomery (2018)
youtu.be/FZ22IV2tDvs?t=3060
Soy production - Our world in data - Hannah Ritchie et al (2018)
ourworldindata.org/soy
