text: In general, a vegetarian diet is more energy efficient than a nonvegetarian one, which is something that environmental groups regularly highlight. Overall, however, we found that meat consumption is only responsible for slightly more indirect energy use than fruit and vegetable consumption, and there are wide variations in how many calories it takes to produce different meats. This suggests that while growing vegetables in your backyard is certainly more energy efficient than buying beef, cutting out meat entirely may not be the most painless way for Americans to meaningfully reduce their energy consumption.