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How Much Land Your Food Actually Needs

A tennis court versus a pizza box. That's the land difference between producing one kilogram of beef and one kilogram of tomatoes.

Researchers Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek measured the land footprint of 38 different foods.  Their findings quantify something we've sensed but rarely seen mapped out precisely.

Land footprint

Beef needs 326 square meters per kilogram each year. Lamb requires even more at 370 square meters. Cheese comes in at 88 square meters despite being dairy. Coffee and dark chocolate both rank high because tree crops spread across large areas—21 and 69 square meters respectively.


Food Product

Land Use (m²/year per kg)

Land Use (ft²/year per lb)

Lamb & Mutton

369.81

821.54

Beef (beef herd)

326.21

724.66

Cheese

87.79

195.02

Dark Chocolate

68.96

153.16

Beef (dairy herd)

43.24

96.05

Coffee

21.62

48.02

Pig Meat

17.36

38.56

Other Pulses

15.57

34.58

Nuts

12.96

28.79

Poultry Meat

12.22

27.14

Groundnuts

9.11

20.24

Milk

8.95

19.88

Fish (farmed)

8.41

18.68

Oatmeal

7.60

16.88

Peas

7.46

16.57

Eggs

6.27

13.93

Wheat & Rye

3.85

8.55

Tofu

3.52

7.82

Prawns (farmed)

2.97

6.60

Maize

2.94

6.53

Rice

2.80

6.22

Berries & Grapes

2.41

5.35

Cane Sugar

2.04

4.53

Bananas

1.93

4.29

Beet Sugar

1.83

4.06

Cassava

1.81

4.02

Wine

1.78

3.95

Barley

1.11

2.47

Other Fruit

0.89

1.98

Potatoes

0.88

1.95

Citrus Fruit

0.86

1.91

Tomatoes

0.80

1.78

Soy milk

0.66

1.47

Apples

0.63

1.40

Brassicas

0.55

1.22

Onions & Leeks

0.39

0.87

Other Vegetables

0.38

0.84

Root Vegetables

0.33

0.73

Chicken uses 12 square meters per kilogram. Pork needs 17. Eggs require 6. Even the most efficient animal proteins use more space than almost any plant food.

Vegetables cluster at the bottom. Tomatoes: 0.8 square meters. Potatoes: 0.88. Onions: 0.39. Root vegetables: 0.33. Most vegetables need less than one square meter per kilogram.

Plant proteins fall in between but closer to vegetables than meat. Peas need 7.5 square meters. Tofu uses 3.5. Wheat requires under 4. Rice sits at about 3.

The range runs from 370 square meters down to 0.33—more than a thousand-fold variation for the same weight of food. Which foods you choose affects how much of Earth's surface goes toward feeding you. A diet heavy in beef claims far more land than one built around grains, vegetables, and legumes. Swapping one weekly beef meal for chicken saves about 16 square meters annually. Choosing beans or lentils instead saves even more. Growing crops for direct consumption simply uses land more efficiently than raising animals. The numbers are there. How you use them is up to you.

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