Written By: Emily Osborne
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to convince anyone that eating meat is inherently bad or that being a vegetarian is necessarily good. Rather, it seeks to point out some facts that promote awareness and allow us to make thoughtful decisions concerning our diet.
You’ve probably noticed that over the past several decades, the number of vegetarians has been growing. Perhaps you know of a few or you may even be one. And you may be wondering, what’s the big deal? Is it just a craze? A fashion statement? A hippie revival movement? You may hear a multitude of reasons for being vegetarian ranging from moral concerns to culture, health benefits to taste. This article sheds light on the environmental impact of producing and consuming meat to offer yet another perspective.
There have been numerous documentaries released in recent years discussing the increasing problems with the American diet. Movies such as Food Inc., King Corn, Earthlings, Supersize Me, and Meet your Meat present frightening images and statistics about industrially produced meat. From these films, we learn that the average American eats over 200 pounds of meat per year. We hear that it requires 2,500 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef in addition to the fuel and emission costs involved in transportation. We find that today, Americans consume more meat in one day than in the entire year of 1920. For some readers, these numbers may sound alarming and impressive, or they may begin to sound like a broken record.
Either way you read it, large corporations control the majority of meat we eat, which makes it increasingly difficult for local farmers to continue practicing small-scale sustainable techniques. Americans are eating excessive amounts of meat, surpassing every other country, although the meat fetish is beginning to catch on elsewhere. There are certain benefits to industrial meat products such as the reduced cost for a greater amount to feed larger populations. However, maybe we should be asking whether comprising quality of meat for quantity is really a good thing. I would argue that it’s not.
Of course, I have my own bias, too. Several years ago, I could not have been a more committed carnivore. Even after hearing some of the above facts, I thought I would never be able to give up a good steak or a juicy hamburger. But the knowledge I had gained was enough to make me try, and I did. A meat-free trial month has turned into four years as a happy, satisfied vegetarian, which I had previously deemed impossible.
I understand that going veggie may not be for everyone—in many cases, it calls for a major shift in the way we think about food. But to start with, it’s helpful to know what vegetarianism means to many people seeking to live a more sustainable life. Even reducing your everyday meat consumption to a few meals per week would help reduce the demand for large-scale meat production. If you do enjoy eating meat (and again, there’s absolutely no shame in that!), you may be interested in finding out where it came from—whether it was locally produced, organic, or free-range.
As a major foodie myself, I encourage you to enjoy what you eat, and I’ve found that the most delicious, wholesome meals are the ones made closest to home!