In 2016, mostly everything is instantaneous: information, media, and most of all our food. People in the western world, particularly Americans, rely on the instantaneousness of food in their daily lives. This benefit of accessibility is also a downfall. The food that millions of Americans consume so readily and easily on a daily basis is not only bad for them, but also the environment.
Americans are eating more fast food than ever before. Long gone are the days of home cooked meals every day for most American families. Most options that are available at fast food restaurants are meat centered, or at least contain some quantity and kind of meat. The livestock industry is the second highest contributor of environment altering gases, right …show more content…
If eating locally sourced food isn’t as good for the planet as people think it is, there must be another solution. Luckily, there is; the solution is to cut meat and dairy out of one’s diet, even if for just one day per week. Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews, engineering professors at Carnegie Mellon University, calculated that reducing the miles travelled to transport food all the way down to zero, which is a nearly impossible goal, “would reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the food system by only about five percent, equivalent to driving 1,000 miles less over the course of a year. By comparison, replacing red meat and dairy with chicken, fish, or eggs for one day per week would save the equivalent of driving 760 miles per year. Replacing red meat and dairy with vegetables one day a week would be like driving 1,160 miles less” (DeWeerdt). This means that even just a small shift in one’s diet can be extremely effective in lowering carbon …show more content…
But more specifically, how do different diets stack up? Researchers have looked at the diets of so called meat lovers, an average diet, no beef diets, vegetarians, and vegans to find out the average carbon emissions of each. The results showed that meat eaters, especially those that ate red meat, had far higher carbon emissions values than those that did not. In fact, there was a sharp drop in carbon emissions from those that ate a so called average diet to those that followed a no beef diet. These findings further indicate that the reduction of meat consumption helps the planet. One does not even have to be fully vegetarian to reap the benefits on the
Americans are eating more fast food than ever before. Long gone are the days of home cooked meals every day for most American families. Most options that are available at fast food restaurants are meat centered, or at least contain some quantity and kind of meat. The livestock industry is the second highest contributor of environment altering gases, right …show more content…
If eating locally sourced food isn’t as good for the planet as people think it is, there must be another solution. Luckily, there is; the solution is to cut meat and dairy out of one’s diet, even if for just one day per week. Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews, engineering professors at Carnegie Mellon University, calculated that reducing the miles travelled to transport food all the way down to zero, which is a nearly impossible goal, “would reduce the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the food system by only about five percent, equivalent to driving 1,000 miles less over the course of a year. By comparison, replacing red meat and dairy with chicken, fish, or eggs for one day per week would save the equivalent of driving 760 miles per year. Replacing red meat and dairy with vegetables one day a week would be like driving 1,160 miles less” (DeWeerdt). This means that even just a small shift in one’s diet can be extremely effective in lowering carbon …show more content…
But more specifically, how do different diets stack up? Researchers have looked at the diets of so called meat lovers, an average diet, no beef diets, vegetarians, and vegans to find out the average carbon emissions of each. The results showed that meat eaters, especially those that ate red meat, had far higher carbon emissions values than those that did not. In fact, there was a sharp drop in carbon emissions from those that ate a so called average diet to those that followed a no beef diet. These findings further indicate that the reduction of meat consumption helps the planet. One does not even have to be fully vegetarian to reap the benefits on the