Our Lent campaign proved that faith-inspired commitment can
be a driver in environmental action. By targeting meat reduction
during Christianity’s most meaningful period of sacrifice, we
tackled the urgent need to reduce food system pressures on our
planet. Using robust GHG emissions and land use data from
ADEME, Poore & Namecek, and SHARP Database, participants
tracked consumption across red meat, white meat, and
breakfast categories, providing insight into dietary behaviour
change.

The results challenged expectations. Despite participants
already consuming 47% less meat than typical Europeans (66kg
annually), they still achieved considerable reductions. When
participants committed to halving their meat intake on short
term, they delivered on 81% of their promises, an extraordinary
success rate that defies conventional assumptions about
dietary change.

The environmental impact was also measurable: 21% reduction
in GHG emissions (from 1.4 to 1.1 tonnes CO₂ per person
annually) and 29% less land use (6,495 to 4,621 m² per person
annually). Most striking was the 81% reduction in breakfast meat
consumption, suggesting strategic meal targeting could
revolutionise dietary transitions.

What made the difference?

This study supports the argument that people are able and
willing to change, given the food environments are also
supportive and allow the right decisions to be made. In order to
scale up the already existing positive examples we need policies
that restructure the context we live in. Peer support networks
and accessible information are similarly among the most
powerful motivators. Christian moral values also helped to
deepen the motivation needed for lasting transformation.
With Pope Leo XIV’s compelling UN FAO address on food system
transformation and his continued advocacy for Laudato Si’,
religious communities now have unprecedented papal backing
for pursuing climate action through dietary change.