Are We Eating Too Much Meat?
The staple American foods has become meat. Not only can too much meat be bad for you, but it also has a major negative impact on the environment.
The Big Discrepancy
I always find it funny that when I am watching shows where the host travels to other countries, they are always eating tons of fresh fruits and vegetables and only eating small amounts of meat. Depending on how rural the area is, meat is usually a scarcity, but fruits and vegetables always seem to be plentiful. In America, it seems to be the complete opposite. Somehow meat is inexpensive and often the only food found in our meals, whereas fresh and inexpensive produce is extremely hard to find. It seems like such a normal things to many Americans, but if you think about it, it just doesn’t make much sense. Animals take years to grow to a point where they can killed. On the other hand, vegetables take a few months to grow and continue to reap produce for the remainder of the growing season.
Meat and Greenhouse Gases
Eating less meat does not seem like it should have a huge impact on the environment, but it does. Between the fertilizers for the animals crops, gases emitted by the livestock and transportation to markets cause tons of greenhouse gases. You would think that the most damaging part is the transportation, but it is in fact not the case. What is a huge surprise is that most of the greenhouse gases caused from producing meats and not transportation. The majority come from methane gases emitted by animals such as cows and fertilizers. Methane gases are actually much more dangerous for the environment than carbon dioxide.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.
That is one scary statistic and much of it is caused by the how dangerous methane gases produced by cows is on our environment.
Eat Less Meat
This trend we are on as a country is just not healthy. Don’t get me wrong, I am a meat eater and am by no means telling you to cut it out of your diet. A great suggestion by Dr Rajendra Pachauri is to not eat meat one day a week. Doesn’t seem too hard, but it probably is much harder than most people think. Almost everything we eat has meat it in. Instead of that meat burger you could substitute in a veggie patty. There are also other great substitutes including tofu and bean curd. If you still can’t find ways to cut meat out of your diet, you can always just eat more poultry and fish. They are far better for you health than red meats and less harmful for the environment.
How do you feel about the effects meat production are having on your diet and the environment and do you plan on cutting back any?
