Chicken vs Chickpeas
Chicken is often promoted as the low-carbon meat, and it is lower than beef — but it still emits six times more than chickpeas per kilogram, and it costs far more animal lives per kilogram of food than any large animal.
Per per kg of food
Greenhouse gaseskg CO₂e / kg
Chicken
9.9
Chickpeas
1.6
Land usem² / kg
Chicken
12.2
Chickpeas
7.3
Freshwater withdrawalL / kg
Chicken
660
Chickpeas
700
Proteing / 100 g
Chicken
27
Chickpeas
19
Source: Poore & Nemecek (2018), Science · Our World in Data · USDA FoodData Central
Verdict
Chickpeas cut emissions about six-fold; chicken remains the highest-welfare-cost common meat.
Questions people ask
Is chicken a 'green' meat?
Only relative to beef and lamb. Against pulses it is still several times more emission-intensive, and it involves the most individual animals per meal.