How do you eat meat?


Have you ever thought about how your eating habits play a role in the sustainability of the planet?  It is true that our eating habits can shape the world around us.  Maybe you have considered buying produce from your local farmers market, or joining a grocery co-op.  Choices like these help you to maintain your eating habits, while supporting the local economy, and obtaining heathy foods produced in more environmentally friendly ways.  But have you ever considered changing your eating habits entirely to promote sustainability?

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In the food market of today, roughly 30% of the useable land surface is used to support livestock production.  One-third of the worlds fresh water is used for industrial livestock.  And the number one contributor to atmospheric methane is not fossil fuels, it is livestock!  Livestock such as poultry, cattle, and pigs are one of the least sustainable food resources that the world has, because they are very resource intensive to produce in the numbers that we demand.

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But it does not have to be this way!  Did you know that Americans eat an average of two-hundred and seventy pounds of meat each year?  But in countries like Japan, the average is only one-hundred and thirteen pounds.  Just by changing your meat consumption habits, you could be having a huge impact on the environment by lowering the resource use and methane production associated with livestock.

So next time you eat out, or maybe just stroll through the grocery store, see if you can choose less meat and more sustainability!

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