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.
