You might not even care about the environment because you think it does not affect you and your life, but it does.
Over 130 million Americans live in areas where it is unsafe to even breathe. Smog-triggered asthma attacks cut short the lives of 30,000 Americans each year. This air pollution causes global warming, another threat to the environment for our children and ourselves.
For this reason, we are faced with a generally surprising decision: whether to reduce our meat consumption or not. Although to most people meat consumption seems completely irrelevant to environmental issues, in truth the widespread production of meat for food is one of the world’s top environmental degradations. For example, in order to produce one pound of meat, 2,500 gallons of water is squandered, six square yards of rain forest land is destroyed, and 16 pounds of grains and soybeans are eaten by the cows. Think about that the next time you order a Double Quarter Pounder. By cutting down your meat intake you are able to help sustain our environment for future generations.
As Americans, we import more than 200 million pounds of beef from Central America alone. One football field of rain forest is destroyed every second of every day so that we can produce 257 of our treasured hamburgers. Every time you eat a quarter-pound hamburger you are destroying six square yards of rain forest land. In order to graze cows, soil rich lands are needed and used, mostly rain forest land.
However, unlike growing crops on land, grazing animals on land makes it nearly impossible to use any piece of land more than once because of the treatment to the land. What does this mean? With the destruction of so much land comes the destruction of plants and other species. Ever wonder why we have so many endangered species? Think red meat. A 1997 United States Fish and Wildlife Service study of endangered species found that half the species they studied were threatened by the grazing of cows alone. Plain and simple: when you eat meat you kill more than just a cow.
Through the vast destruction of rain forests (mostly done with a quick slash and burn technique) all the carbon dioxide stored in these plants is released into the air, creating not only problems for our ozone layer, but acid rain as well. Rain forests moderate our climate, keeping us from becoming a desert world. Additionally, the machinery used to destroy these rain forests lets off its own emissions of carbon dioxide. And as expressed, the number one reason for this mindless destruction is beef production.
To put this in perspective, the average car produces 3 kilograms of carbon dioxide per day. However, to make one hamburger, the clearing of these rain forests releases 75 kilograms of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere.
Additionally, cattle produce almost one fifth of the world’s methane emissions, one of the ozone-depleting substances that is 24 times as potent as carbon dioxide. That’s more than just a stinky problem.
So, what does one do with all this information? Well, it’s simple. You don’t have to throw out those favored steaks or chicken nuggets for your lifetime. A small change can make a big difference. Thus, when you’re trying to figure out what to eat, choose the path that leads to less meat. Remember that every time you buy a hamburger at McDonalds, the risks are not only to your own health.
We can choose to live in a world where we each have meat every day and are constantly battling to save our environment, or one where we live in moderation and can breathe in the benefits.
The choice is a small one. And your tiny decision will have a huge impact.
Shah is a third-year communication studies student.