tip_of_month
Tip of the Month - October 2008
As published in the Lafayette Today newspaper.
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In early September, Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN Intergovermental Panel on Climate Change, announced that people should cut their consumption of meat to help combat climate change. “In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive opportunity.”

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How did he come up with this recommendation? Well, according to a little-known 2006 United Nations report entitled “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” livestock is a major player in climate change, accounting for 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions (measured in carbon dioxide equivalents). That’s more than the entire transportation system! Unfortunately, this incredibly important revelation has received only limited attention in the media.

Here’s a few facts to whet your appetite:
  • Grazing occupies an incredible 26% of the ice- and water-free surface of the Earth
  • More than a third of all raw materials and fossil fuels consumed in the United States are used in animal production.
  • 64% of U.S. agricultural land goes to grow livestock feed
  • Half of U.S. water goes to livestock. 2,500-6,000 pounds of water for one pound of beef.
  • It takes 7-8 pounds of corn to add a pound of weight to a cow.
  • cows
    Producing a single hamburger patty uses enough fuel to drive twenty miles.
  • According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the American meat industry produced more than 1.4 billion tons of waste in 1997—five tons for every U.S. citizen and 130 times the volume of human waste. All of this waste produces methane, a greenhouse gas that is 23 times more potent than CO2.
  • According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, “The methane that cattle and their manure produce (in the U.S.) has a global warming effect equal to that of 33 million automobiles.”
  • In 1950, world meat production was 44 million pounds annually; today, it has risen fivefold to 253 million tons per year. The average person now eats twice as much meat as 50 years ago.

The good news is that eating less meat has many benefits besides helping the climate:
Good for your health - people that eat less meat have lower levels of blood cholesterol, suffer less frequently from obesity and hypertension, have lower rates of heart disease and colon cancer, and longer life expectancies.
Good for your pocketbook - Meat is expensive, so eating less can save a lot of money

So, if you want to reduce your contribution to global warming, this is just another “opportunity” that’s a lot cheaper than buying a hybrid or investing in solar panels. All you have to do is opt for a few non-meat entrees each week.

To see how much impact your diet has, check out the “Eating Green” calculator at:
http://www.cspinet.org/EatingGreen/calculator.html



pdflink to PDF of Lafayette Today that included article on page 11