The Reality of the Meat Industry
The meat industry degrades our environment and emits huge amounts of Greenhouse Gases, therefore contributing climate change, in several ways, including:
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1. Deforestation.
To make space for the livestock of the ever growing meat industry to be raised and for the vast quantities of feed to be grown for that livestock, entire ecosystem are destroyed. Unfortunately, this is a double hit on the environment - not only does the action of cutting down trees and removing ecosystems to create pastures and crops contribute to emissions (machinery), but it rids the planet of those trees, which naturally sequester carbon dioxide, a well know greenhouse gas.
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2. Methane.
When manure decomposes, as well as when animals belch, methane, carbon dioxide, and ammonia are released in amounts far greater than one would expect; methane is a greenhouse gas 30x more potent than carbon dioxide.
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3. Transportation/ Machinery.
The transportation of animals, manure, and grain, and the use of other machinery used in the meat industry require a lot of gasoline, resulting in extensive carbon dioxide emissions.
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All in All:
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the livestock industry is responsible for 14.5 percent of all anthropogenic GHG emissions
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cattle represent 65% of the these emissions
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Sources:
https://www.cleanwateraction.org/features/meat-industry-–-environmental-issues-solutions
What We Can Do
#1 is to avoid beef, and meat overall, as best we can.
However, the point here is not that you have to jump straight into veganism.
If we can all commit to trying out some great vegetarian and vegan options (a perfect quarantine pastime!) that are healthy, delicious, and, of course, considerably reduce our carbon footprint, together, we will make a huge difference.
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For more information on the benefits of a Mediterranean diet, check out this video:
https://www.vox.com/videos/2017/12/12/16762900/mediterranean-diet-pescatarian-climate-change
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To reiterate what was said, just one steak has a carbon footprint of 33 grams (this means, considering everything that had to happen for that steak to be produced, 33 grams of carbon dioxide were emitted). That is equivalent to driving a car three miles. This tells us very clearly - every meal is a choice, and every meal has an impact.
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Check out the food section of the blog to find some recipes and begin taking action right now, inside of your own kitchen!