AFP:
A diet with meat is responsible for producing in a year the same amount of greenhouse gases as driving a mid-sized car 4,758 kilometres (2,956 miles), the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOeW) said.
But the food a vegetarian consumes in 12 months is responsible for generating the same emissions as driving 2,427 kilometres, the IOeW said in a study commissioned by independent consumer protection group Foodwatch.
Going vegan -- giving up meat and dairy products -- would cut the emissions released in making what you eat more than seven-fold, to the equivalent of driving 629 kilometres, it said.
And if it is all organic, your food footprint is almost a 17th of that of a meat-eater -- the equivalent of driving 281 kilometres.
Beef is particularly environmentally unfriendly, it said, with producing a kilo (2.2 pounds) the same as driving 71 kilometres compared with 26 kilometres for pork.
Switching to organic farming can cut emissions dramatically, "but what counts is the way we feed ourselves ... production and consumption first and foremost of beef and milk must be cut drastically," the study said.
Of course, high prices for meat have a way of making us all vegetarians. And I do love my milk (50s-style upbringing: Milk and cookies).
Nevertheless, I do know water is better for me, so I could give up drinking milk -- as long as I don't have to give up eating butter and cheese; which I would guess are far more efficient than milk, since they concentrate so much more energy in a smaller package? Readers, correct me!
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Butter and Cheese more efficient?
I'm inclined to think not. They all start out as milk, so up to the point where the products diverge the resource cost is the same, but I would think the processing and packaging costs of butter and cheese from that point on would be higher than just taking the milk to market.
Not that I'm willing to give up my dairy products though, especially being from Wisconsin...
Well, damn
I guess I was thinking local transport costs.
But I guess you're right. Still, they will pry butter from my cold, dead hands!
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
I'm a meatatarian
Good-bye cool world!
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“I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat.” - Will Rogers
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“I don't belong to any organized political party. I'm a Democrat.” - Will Rogers
spot on with the 'enforced veganism,' lb.
i'm working on getting those for whom i care to accept that meat should be served no more than 3X a week. and it's not going to be hard, given what i paid yesterday for meat at the grocery store. it's sad, as i do love me some steak, but then again perhaps the next step in ChezDyke estates will be to raise beef from hoof right here. i dunno if i truly want to do that as big animals can be expensive to care for, but i have been considering raising chickens, which a friend of mine is already doing on a tiny NJ urban plot to great success. eggs provide protein as well as many meat products, and one doesn't even need a cock (heh) for the hens to be productive.
Here in KY
There are farms that will raise a cow for you. You pay for the cow and it's upkeep, they'll raise it, slaughter it and butcher it for you, then you get all the meat.
This way you ensure it hasn't been given any hormones to make it grow, and I imagine it's more enviro-friendly.
Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!
they've got mini cows the size of mastiffs,
who can be raised on grass and be food for one family:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10697287/
'minifarming?'
or perhaps some other term? it sounds like a good idea, when i think on it. raise just a few animals that others pay you to care for, work with a butcher during slaughter time, keep things organic.
that could be a terrific use of a property for those who can't grow foodstuffs on it. grass fed beef tastes wonderful, and cows are happy enough in a small barn if they get to free range during the day.
As long as there's some form of insurance
What happens if the cow dies?
[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Total cost
There are lots of things wrong with these kinds of reports (and that's without even looking at their methodology), but here's a simple criticism: how about people who like meat keep stuffing their face with burgers but drive a few thousand miles less every year? Because the end result is the same.
What makes a difference is not which CO2 emitting activities (like breathing) you engage in, but what your oveall carbon footprint is. I eat meat, and unless you own more woods than I do, my carbon footprint is much smaller than yours - close to zero (some of my neighbors are negative). Does that mean I get to dictate the CO2-emitting choices in your lifestyle?
Or do I just get to feel superior because I'm harming the planet less than you are?
So everyone that wants to eat meat
but not curtail their other carbon producing activities should buy large tracts of forest.
I have 68 acres, mostly wooded, in Missouri, so I'm covered. Or maybe not, since I have to drive 7 hrs to get there...
That'd work
but a) the objective is to reduce the atmospheric levels of CO2 and not to convert everyone to veganism (or forestry); b) there are a number of alternative ways to accomplish that that don't require veganism (or forestry); c) just because you choose one carbon lowering activity doesn't exempt all of your other activities and choices from scrutiny.
I only own 20 acres, which is sufficient to offset nearly all of the rest of my lifestyle, but my carbon footprint would still be low without the trees.
cold turkey (so to speak)
There is no need to think of it as an all or nothing proposition; many people simply reduce their meat consumption. Before I became vegetarian, I cut out more ethically repugnant choices such as veal and pate. If you make smaller changes, you are more likely to keep them up. You can always add to that later.
Give Up Milk
and butter and cheese and milk chocolate? I'd rather the world end.
I don't eat nearly as much meat as I used to. Recently gave up pork because of the inhumane way hogs are raised (hogs are smarter than most other food animals since they're basically on par with dogs). I'd love to say I feel as good about it as bacon smells but that would be a lie. Because bacon smells awesome.