Eat Less Meat and Save the Planet

Eat Less Meat and Save Our Planet

Do you realize how much your food choices matter? Not only do they impact your health and sense of well-being, reducing your consumption of meat by half and eventually switching over to a 100% whole food low fat plant based diet, will make a major contribution to your wellness and the planet’s survival as an inhabitable place to live.

I’ll show you why my research, common sense, ethical and spiritual considerations, and environmental power of this lifestyle change are key reasons to eat less or no meat.

In her Paper, “Food Matters How What We Eat Affects Our Health and the Planet” by Roni Neff PhD., Research and Policy Director of the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) states, “Many of the leading public health threats of our day—including climate change, environmental contamination and resource depletion, hunger and malnutrition, and the obesity epidemic—have strong roots in the current food and agriculture system.” "Food Matters"

To expand on this, here’s an excerpt from a report published in 2009 by Worldwatch Institute. Animal agriculture contributes more to greenhouse gases than the global transportation sector—that’s every single car, bus, plane, train, etc. on this earth. It reads, “Livestock currently amounts to 18 percent of the global warming effect—an even larger contribution than the transportation sector worldwide.” The document, by Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang is available here:

“Livestock and Climate Change”

A report from Florida International University researcher Brian Machovina confirms, "Reducing animal-based product consumption is realistic if we can offer delicious, convenient, plant-based foods that people want to eat." He continues, “Growing crops, including fruits, vegetables, legumes and soy protein would increase the number of food calories available for people by as much as 70 percent on the agricultural lands currently in use. Soybeans contain twice the protein of beef, pork or chicken, and 10 times more protein than whole milk.” Cultivating produce requires less land than what is used to raise livestock. In an article by Evelyn Perez, see what this research mentioned above shows. "Eat less meat, save the planet"

The World Health Organization (WHO) is getting into the act too. In November, 2015, WHO announced that they were classifying processed meat as a carcinogenic and red meat as "possibly carcinogenic," and the amount and frequency of meat consumption today is alarming. 

We need to cut consumption of meat at least to half, as a start. Even if there were no health concerns like the fact that 17% of all commercial cow meat has been injected with growth hormones and even more is laden with pesticide residue, ethical reasons are plentiful. Untold numbers of people are hungry and starving in the world. Terrible conditions for raising animals prevail in commercial farms, with infringement of animal rights, and pollution from industrial factory farms etc. Raising animals for food is distasteful, for moral as well as environmental reasons. Destruction of natural resources like land, water, and soil, and rising greenhouse gas levels result from this type of operation.  Food Democracy Now Blog.

When you eat less meat, your health improves, and you cut down on medical expenses. Eating a vegetarian or vegan diet that is whole food (not processed or fast food) can save you big bucks too.

To conclude, I plant this seed.

 "A reduction in beef and other meat consumption is the most potent single act you can take to halt the destruction of our environment and preserve our natural resources. Our choices do matter. What's healthiest for each of us personally is also healthiest for the life support system of our precious, but wounded planet."

     -- John Robbins, author of "Diet for a New America", and President, EarthSave Foundation, Santa Cruz, California
Link to EarthSave

Before you go, please take a moment to comment on my post. Please share what you do to improve your eating habits and efforts you've made or intend to make to reduce your carbon footprint. 

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