When we think of climate action, we usually focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency and the transition to low-carbon transportation. However, food production accounts for over a quarter (26%) of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. We can’t tackle climate change without considering what we choose to eat.
Climate-killing beef. The graph below, from OurWorldinData.org illustrates the environmental impact of various types of foods – and beef is a prodigious producer of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. By weight, beef uses 10 times more climate-warming emissions than poultry meat. When compared with staples like potatoes, wheat and rice, the impact of beef is even more extreme. Meat and dairy provide just 18% of calories and 37% of protein worldwide, but beef and dairy cattle produce 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Rainforest beef. Beef farming is a top driver of deforestation worldwide, particularly in the Amazon. Cattle ranching in the Amazon is pushing the forest to the edge of what scientists warn could be a vast and irreversible dieback. As stated in the Washington Post (April 29, 2022), the US bought more than 320 million pounds of Brazilian beef in 2021 – and we’re on pace to purchase nearly twice as much this year. According to this article, “If the Amazon is to die, it will be beef that kills it. And America will be an accomplice.”
A modeling study published in Nature.com (May 4, 2022), states that “Replacing just 20% of global beef consumption with a meat substitute within the next 30 years could halve deforestation and the carbon emissions associated with it.”
Local beef isn’t much better. Buying from local farmers is always a good idea, but transport accounts for less than 1% of beef’s greenhouse gas emissions. For beef, it doesn’t much matter if you buy from the farmer next door or from far way. What you eat is more important than where it comes from. If you are eating a burger or steak for dinner, your meal’s carbon footprint will be large no matter where it was produced.
#EatLessBeef for a better world. One of the most powerful actions you can take to reduce your carbon footprint is to eat less red meat. You don’t need to become vegan overnight – or ever – but eating less beef will have a major impact on our world and the trajectory of climate change.
