I’ve posted about this before, and I’ll probably post about it again. It’s really an important issue, and in such a meat oriented world it’s often very hard to communicate to people.
I recently came across this post on Civil Eats which made me think of this subject again.
For some reason, this is an easily overlooked subject.
According to the latest UN report on carbon emissions and climate change, production of meat is responsible for 18% of the worlds greenhouse emissions, larger than any other single source. The world’s transportation systems combined only account for 15%. You can do more to reduce your carbon emissions by becoming vegetarian than driving a hybrid car, reducing air travel, and certainly more than buying energy saving lights for your house.
Reducing the amount of meat you eat means much more than eating fish once a week, it truly means only eating it occasionally, in small amounts, as a treat. This is assuming you eat it at all. While many people enjoy eating it, meat plays no constructive role in a healthy diet and people who don’t eat meat are no less healthy than people who do.
The excuses are obvious, and frequently heard. Of course eating locally or sustainably produced meat is a far better alternative, and the farmers producing local meats are heroes who should be supported. At the same time locally produced meats are not available in sufficient quantities to feed everyone who wants them, and they are not completely without environmental consequences. Even the most ideally raised meats should be considered and consumed as a limited resource. Even though it’s possible to point out other foods are resource intensive in their production, like cheese, it’s not a valid reason to eat more meat instead. As a whole, particularly from factory farm sources, meat is the most resource intensive food on the planet.
If the issue of consumer demand is not addressed, the food industry will almost certainly be able to delay meaningful regulation of it’s carbon emissions indefinitely.
I’m all too aware of this one, but find it the hardest thing to action. Giving up meat altogether (voluntarily, anyway) is a step too far for me.
However, I have a semi-solution; I have a policy of only buying the most expensive cuts of the very best, organic, ethically reared meat. And only from local farms. This has several benefits:
• It tastes fantastic, so meat is always a treat
• I do the least possible harm by buying it
• It’s fearfully expensive, so it naturally limits the occasions we eat it
Meat should, of course, be prohibitively expensive… if it’s been ‘done’ right. It’s the shocking cheapness of industrially-reared meat that has caused so many environmental and human health problems.
Hi Soilman, you’re working on the diet of the future!
I am not sure it is true that there are no health issues re not eating meat Patrick. I recently discovered I am anaemic (explains my tiredness at least) and did a bit if research (granted not much) to see if I could try and get more Iron into my diet, I already eat tons of the very dark leafy stuff but it would seem from what I read that it is difficult to absorb iron from vegetation without combining it with meat. Would be interested if anyone knows more or can point to any resources where I could get more info on getting more iron without eating meat.
Patrick this is a fantastic article and it is something that really worries me for the future. Something really has to change because what we are doing is simply not sustainable and is so damaging to the environment, to wildlife and to human health as well. I’m glad you posted about it.
Laura, you do not need to eat meat to get enough iron, but what does help the body to absorb more iron from leafy greens and other sources is to include vitamin C in the meal. Could be in the form of lemon juice on your greens or salad, could be a tangerine after your meal, doesn’t matter. Just make sure you are getting enough sources of vitamin C into your diet. Here is an article that might help: http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/articles/iron-vegetarian-diet.php
Laura,
There’s lots of conflicting information about things like iron or other nutrients. Just like it’s possible for someone to come up with a list of things missing in a meat free diet, it’s possible for someone else to come along and not only dispute everything on the list but then come up with a list of problems with a diet containing meat.
All you have to do is decide for yourself if a meat or non-meat diet is better, and you can come up with a compelling case for your position.
The simple fact is there are many people who are differing degrees of vegetarian or vegan, and many societies both modern and historical with a near or complete absence of animal products in their diets. These people don’t have significantly different patterns of health, diseases or nutritional deficiencies.
Everyone is a unique person, but in general people who don’t eat animal products also don’t suffer from a lack of protein, vitamin D, vitamin B12, iron, omega-3 or any other nutrient because of their diet. Nor do they have to take any special care in what they eat. Just as most people who eat modest amounts of meat don’t have high cholesterol or suffer from heart disease.
I could go into a very long rant about modern nutritional science, but this isn’t the place. The fact however that we are so intensely focused on the components of food, rather than the quality of the food itself, is really an anomality. It’s what allows food companies to sell us ‘light’ products, because fat and sugar are bad, or ‘enriched’ products because vitamins are good. It’s simply the way that food companies make their profits, and get people to go out and buy ever increasing amounts of processed food.
Going further with the usual stereotypes, it’s also not true on the whole that people who don’t eat meat feel hungry or crave meat. It’s not true that most vegetarians are repulsed in some serious way by the sight of meat, or are bothered by someone sitting next to them eating it. Very few established vegetarians or vegans have any issues of satisfaction with what they eat, and are generally very much at peace with themselves.
As excited as you can be about the foods available for you to eat, vegetarians and vegans can be just as excited about what they eat, but in a different way.
If not eating meat is something that’s not for you, by all means don’t stop. If however you come up with too many excuses why you need to eat excessive amounts of animal products, there can be consequences for both the environment and your health. These are really just too important to ignore.
The point of this post is really about the environment, so aside from the health issues I really hope everyone thinks of this.
this is a really useful article; i never would have guessed this was the case. thanks.