How is the steak on your plate contributing to global warming?
Written by: William Cen, Tianren Dong, Cici Zhang, David Jin
Believe it or not, every rib-eye steak on your dinner table caused one tree to be cut down. Cattle ranching is the largest driver of deforestation, accounting for 80% of the destruction in the Amazon Forest. There are two reasons the cattle industry has such a significant impact on forest loss. Just raising a single cattle requires 1.5 to 2 acres of land, which is the amount of land occupied by 300 to 400 trees in the Amazon Rainforest. Secondly, additional land needs to be cleared for farming the crops needed to sustain the cattle.
Despite alarming statistics like millions of acres of forest destroyed and predictions of utter devastation from droughts and rising oceans that will wipe out cities, there are a couple of simple actions that you can take to avoid global disasters. Eat less beef, make it a habit, and tell all your friends.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the daily recommended total consumption of meat should average no more than 4 oz, and for red meat, the amount should be no more than 1.8 oz. As a reference, a fillet steak in a steakhouse can range from 6 oz - 16 oz, which is significantly over the daily limit. Although red meat is a good source of protein, iron, zinc, and vitamin B12, overconsumption of red meat can increase the risk of heart disease, Type II Diabetes, and certain types of cancers. In 2017, the average person in the US consumed 3470.4 oz of red meat and poultry. That equates to an average daily intake of 9.5 oz, which is more than twice the recommended amount. On top of the health concerns, red meat production is also contributing to global warming and other disasters; so it is an easy decision to eat less beef. You can eat a healthier diet consisting of more vegetables, other meats like seafood and poultry, or beef substitutes like Beyond Meat. Make a commitment, make a plan, and share it with your friends. Together, we can halt deforestation.
LikeMeat Like Burger
- Soya based, photographer & cook: Line Tscherning
Animal agriculture, including land for grazing and growing feed crops, now uses more than one-third of Earth’s landmass, and it is also responsible for nearly 91% of Amazon rainforest destruction according to a study published in 20181. In addition to deforestation, animals raised for food produce 7 million pounds of excrement every minute, polluting nearby waterways and ecosystems. Animal agriculture emits more greenhouse gases than all the cars, planes, and other forms of transportation combined. The effect of animal agriculture on climate change is devastating, not to mention how billions of farm animals are suffering immensely under unspeakable cruelties.
Fortunately, new technologies are offering alternatives like how kerosene enabled humans to light homes without killing whales. In addition to plant-based meat substitutes, pioneering startups in cellular agriculture, or the clean meat industry, are developing more sustainable and efficient ways to save the planet and end cruelty to farm animals. Lab-grown meat, or the so-called “cultured meat” is not an alternative to regular meat. It is actual animal meat grown from animal cells. These cells are cultivated as if they were in the animal’s body, and they are fed the exact same nutrients that an animal would consume. According to a report published in 2011, “cultured meat could potentially be produced with up to 96% less greenhouse gas emissions, 45% less energy, 99% less land use, and 96% less water consumption than conventional meat.” Currently, it takes about 15,000 litres of fresh water to produce one kilogram of beef as compared to 287 litres needed to produce a kilogram of potatoes and 155 litres of water to produce one kilogram of cultured beef. We should all support the adoption of cultured meat and meat substitutes because it will be a much more environmentally friendly, efficient, and moral way of putting meat on the dinner tables.
Yinon M. Bar-On, Rob Phillips, and Ron Milo. The biomass distribution on Earth. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://www.pnas.org/content/115/25/6506
Hanna L. Tuomisto and M. Joost Teixeira de Mattos. Environmental Impacts of Cultured Meat Production. Environmental Science & Technology. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/es200130u
Source: Heller, Martin C. and Gregory A. Keoleian. (2018) “Beyond Meat's Beyond Burger Life Cycle Assessment: A detailed comparison between a plant-based and an animal- based protein source.” CSS Report, University of Michigan: Ann Arbor 1-38.
We need to change our diets and force the food industry to become more efficient through our decisions and actions as consumers and advocates. We should eat more vegetables and choose meat from more responsible meat production methods and companies. The world's agricultural land consists of about 5 billion hectares, 68% of which is used for livestock breeding. The conversion of land and loss of biodiversity are significant contributors to the destruction of our planet. Animal husbandry already accounts for one-quarter to one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot allow this situation to continue to get worse. People underestimate the impact of eating habits on climate change. In the United States, a family of four emits more greenhouse gases from eating meat than driving two cars. But when discussing the issue of global warming, people only talk about cars and ignore food production. As a global citizen, we must save the trees and stop the destruction of our planet. You can start by eating less beef!
