Meat is Murder?
Lauren Tough discusses how the meat we eat is murdering the environment
Photo: annamatic3000 (Flickr)
Accounting for the fact that around 5-10% of an animal is discarded, one person can allow themselves approximately 80-85g of red and white meat. This equates to an upper limit of one burger and one chicken fillet every three days
Meat is murdering the environment. It is with great regret that I report livestock farming accounts for around 15-18% of greenhouse gas emissions produced, a figure I found overwhelmingly high. In terms of agricultural emissions, a total of 80% is due to meat production. The next time I order that really amazing burger from The Forth, should I be perfused with regret?
Obviously, this is a problem that increases with greater demand for meat and in developing countries, consumption of meat is rising by more than 5% per year. In China, the most populous country, this increase is becoming much more problematic as people become richer. It is estimated wealthier people eat ten times more meat than those who are poor. What are the solutions? We can’t all be expected to be vegetarians and we do need to support the agricultural industry that provides us with our food – an industry which is doing its part to cut emissions and improve farming. We need to change our pattern of meat consumption.
Colin Butler from the Australian National University in Canberra calculated, on a global scale, the amount of meat one person should limit themselves to. Accounting for the fact that around 5-10% of an animal is discarded, one person can allow themselves approximately 80- 85g of red and white meat. This equates to an upper limit of one burger and one chicken fillet every three days. Could you honestly say you ate so little?
The allowance of meat consumption will drop further when waste is considered. As well as waste from the plate, expired food and bulk packaging is also an issue. If we only bought what we needed, rather than being encouraged to buy larger packs from supermarkets, our waste would rapidly decrease.
Yes, I would love to be a vegetarian, but the fact is my diet (and taste buds) require it – as a Smiths fan this leaves me with an overwhelming pang of guilt. Society cannot be expected to become vegetarian. The answer being, rather than to quit meat entirely, to eat less of it and reduce the amount of food wasted.
Buying organic and free range products can also help to reduce unsustainable and inhumane factory farming. It’s unerringly hard to be environmentally friendly, but little changes like this we can all make, and would have, collectively, a huge impact on the future wellbeing of our planet.
