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New meat atlas takes a look at the peatlands

Why “moor milk” is bad for the climate

7/1/2022 The CO₂ footprint of one liter of “moor milk”, whether organic or not, is five times higher than that of milk from other pastures – how does that work? Sabine Wichmann (GMC) explains the invisible climate damage from the connection between animal husbandry, food production and soil in the current meat atlas: Drained moorland and used for agriculture release the carbon that is preserved when wet into the atmosphere as CO₂. These emissions cause high levels of climate damage and are part of the carbon footprint of food. However, this is not yet apparent to consumers - labeling would help here. In Germany, these peatlands make up only seven percent of agricultural land, but their drainage is responsible for 37 percent of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and agricultural land use. The situation is similar across the EU.