Episode 3 — Meat & Dairy: Five Words that will Save the Planet
“I was a vegetarian until I started leaning toward the sunlight.” — Rita Rudner (Comedian)
Show Notes
Like it or not, the global production of meat is the most destructive force on the planet today.
Raising animals for food requires massive amounts of land, food, energy, and water and causes immense animal suffering.
Livestock farming has a vast environmental footprint. It contributes to land and water degradation, biodiversity loss, acid rain, coral reef degeneration and deforestation.
Nowhere is this impact more apparent than climate change – livestock farming contributes 19% of human produced greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, largely thanks to trees being cut to find more land for cattle. That is more than all carbon emissions from ships, planes, trucks, cars and all other transport put together.
In fact, avoiding meat and dairy products is the single best way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, and indeed, it may be the only way we are going to seriously tackle climate change and ecosystem destruction. Tune in and eat it up.
Mentioned in This Episode
MEAT ALTERNATIVES
Videos
The global scope of industrial animal agriculture is immense. Between the earth's surface used for livestock grazing and the land to grow food for them, over 70% of all the agricultural lands on earth are used to feed and raise the animals we eat.
Ted Talks
Toward Rational, Authentic Food Choices
Melanie Joy, Ph.D., Ed.M. is a Harvard-educated psychologist, professor of psychology and sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, a noted speaker, and the author of "Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows."
— The Ten Worse Foods for the Environment —
From an environmental standpoint, the trend is clear: eating fewer animal products and more plant-based foods is beneficial for the planet. Animal products generally use larger amounts of resources and energy than various other plant-based foods, plus produce higher carbon emissions. The good news is that when it comes to eating less meat and dairy and fewer eggs, it’s not all-or-nothing. Small changes in your diet will make a big impact. For example, consider experimenting with Meatless Mondays, eating meat only on the weekends, or cooking or ordering meals with smaller meat portions; in other words, see what works best for you.
1. Lamb
It's surprising but lamb has fifty percent more greenhouse gas emissions than beef. The amount of feed required for lamb are comparable to that of beef, and provides less meat which makes it the worst animal protein for the environment.
2. Beef
Beef takes roughly 2,500 gallons/9500 liters of water to produce a pound of beef. Deforestation and high quantities of feed required to raise cattle are also factors that contribute to the negative environmental impacts of beef.
3. Pork
Bacon and ham round out the top three. More than half of the emissions from pork come from raising the animals, but a good portion comes from processing, transport, and cooking the meat at home.
4. Cheese
It's not just meat. Cheese is also a major CO2 contributor. It takes a lot of milk - a 10-1 ratio, to make a chunk of cheese. Cows are ruminants that emit large amounts of methane which is about 25 times more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide.
Farmed Salmon
Excessive use of chemical and excess nutrients from food and feces associated with salmon farms causes significant biodiversity loss. When it comes to farmed salmon, the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emissions are feed production, electricity generation and on farm fuel combustion.
6. Turkey
Thanksgiving may not be the greenest holiday, though it's probably better than a Christmas roast. Most of the greenhouse gases from turkey come from feed production (especially corn), followed by processing and home cooking.
7. Chicken
Over the past decades, the growth in the consumption of chicken has exploded. To keep up with this demand, the emergence of concentrated animal feeding operations (cafos) and the the industrial-scale production has given rise to a number of environmental concerns.
8. Canned Tuna
Over the past decades, the growth in the consumption of chicken has exploded. To keep up with this demand, the emergence of concentrated animal feeding operations (cafos) and the the industrial-scale production has given rise to a number of environmental concerns.
9. Eggs
The production of eggs, like other intensive produce, generates negative effects on the environment, including the emission of greenhouse gases or the contamination of soil and water. Feed production for egg-laying hens as has massive impact on land, water, and resource pollution.
10. Potatoes
Our first vegetable. Potatoes produce the most emissions of all protein-rich plants. Most of the footprint comes from cooking, but it varies depending on how they're cooked and for how long. For example, a baked potato produces much more emissions than French fries, because French fries taken much less time to cook.