There are so many great reasons to reduce your intake of red meat. Heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and certain types of cancer are often linked to a high meat diet. Some people boycott meat because of ethical considerations over animal treatment, particularly in large-scale farming practices. But let’s review why reducing our red meat “foodprint” is good for the environment.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the meat industry accounts for almost 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions compared to about 18% from all cars, trucks, planes, and trains combined. National Geographic calculates that it takes nearly 2,000 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef compared to less than 200 gallons of water per pound of plant-based foods such as potatoes or wheat. In fact, becoming vegan is the single biggest action a person can take to combat climate change! But committed carnivores don’t need to go cold turkey and eliminate meat altogether. Even becoming a “flexitarian” or “reducetarian,” someone who eats more plant-based foods but occasionally still eats chicken, fish, and red meat, reduce ones carbon footprint significantly. (Continue reading after graph.)
Fun/Not So Fun Facts:
- Cows, lamb, sheep, goats, and bison, which are all ruminating animals, emit more methane, a greenhouse gas that increases our carbon footprint, than non-ruminating critters such as chicken and fish. This is also pertinent to all dairy products made from cows, including cheese. (Btw, It takes 10 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese.)
- Because animals and processing plants take up so much land, animal agriculture is responsible for widespread deforestation in the Amazon. Locally, almost 300 million acres of land in the United States is used for range, pasture, and crop fields grown for feeding livestock.
- Meat that travels via air (e.g. lamb flown in from New Zealand) emits 30 times more greenhouse gases than food shipped by boat from the same location.
- Beef produces eight times as much greenhouse gas as chicken. Switching from beef to chicken would be equivalent to taking 26 million cars off the road.
- According to the Environmental Working Group, if all Americans skipped meat and cheese just once a week (think: Meatless Mondays) and ate a plant-based protein instead, it would be equal to driving 91 billion miles less or removing 7.6 million cars from the road. This would not only combat climate change but reduce air, soil, and water pollution.
- Frozen fish is usually lower on the carbon scale than fresh fish, unless it is caught locally, because most salmon consumers live far from where fish is caught. Flying fish in fresh is the world’s most carbon-intensive method of travel. However, flash-freezing fish at sea and moving it via container ship, train, or truck has a much lower climate burden (and can actually taste fresher. “Fresh fish” on the menu can be as much as 14 days old!).
- Not all fruits and veggies are created equal. For example, tropical fruit like bananas is flown here from long distances, which equals lots of greenhouse gas emissions compared to seasonal, local fruit.
- More than 20% of US methane emissions comes from landfills.
The Importance of Serving Size
When you do eat meat, reducing your portion size makes a big difference, both to your health and the environment. Your daily serving of protein should only be about the size of a deck of cards, or 3 – 4 ounces, and shouldn’t take up more than one-quarter of your plate. Fruit and veggies should cover half your plate and whole grains the remaining quarter. Try substituting meat with protein rich tofu, nuts, seeds, beans, or legumes (peas, lentils, chickpeas, soybeans). Consider that getting necessary protein does not equal needing more meat. For more on how much protein you really need, go HERE for an article by Consumer Reports.
For a delicious recipe that is vegetarian but provides fiber and protein enriched whole wheat sesame noodles and peanut butter, go HERE
As always, think about what you choose to eat, ask where your food comes from, and learn how your meal gets to your plate. See foodprints by diet graph below:
Replies