A Short Overview of the Mighty Burger

 Meat consumption and climate change

Our consumption habits have changed drastically in the last thousand years with the help of modern technologies, but with a longer life expectancy and lower infant fertility, Earth’s resources are heavily exploited. Although almost 700 million people globally are undernourished, the standard diet of wealthy countries consists of overly-processed products, dairy, meat, and often-imported fruits and vegetables.

Meat is a very controversial subject these days. With the latest news being the European Parliament debating if plant-based products rich in proteins can go under names such as “vegan meat”, many people don’t even accept the term “vegan” in their conversations. But if we take a look at the food pyramid, animal products are closer to its top and a “recommended” diet shouldn’t include a hamburger daily. Before we enter the unending debate about the health implications of our modern diet and eating too much meat, we have to think about its impact on the climate.

If the prediction is that we are going to be 10 billion people until 2050, then one of the biggest questions is how are we going to feed all these people? British health magazine Lancet put together a team of over 30 scientists and answered the question: A plant-based diet with a minimum of animal products is the only sustainable approach. But are we ready to change our eating habits and let go of a billion-dollar industry?

The logic is quite simple: you need more resources to raise animals than to grow crops. Even if we think of the idealistic farms (and this isn’t the case most times), those animals need water, grains, medicine, and, most importantly, time. Truth is, the “standard” diet includes a lot of meat, especially in developed countries, and we are a lot of people living there. This takes us to the next point: we need just as much water and just as many crops to feed the animals we are going to feed on and there’s an entire industry built on that. As the United Nations acknowledge, meat consumption has a negative impact on food security (the grains that can be used to end hunger in most countries are fed to animals), water usage, deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the main reasons for the phenomenon widely known as “global warming”. As the name suggests, greenhouse gas emissions block heat into the atmosphere by maximizing the effect of the sun and warming our climate. Since only the rise of the medium global temperature to 2 Celsius degrees would have a devastating effect on human life as we know it, every source of GHG (greenhouse gas emissions) should be reduced.

To put it simply, the CO2 to calorie ratio of beef is much larger than that of grains, veggies, or pulses. Furthermore, as the meat industry is growing, more grains are needed to feed the livestock, resulting mostly in deforestation for agriculture. WWF estimates that over 80% of the Amazon’s deforestation has ties to the meat industry.

Besides the resources needed to grow domestic livestock for meat consumption, many animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats produce methane (CH4) as part of their digestive process. Since CH4 contributes to the GHGs, it doesn’t really matter if the burger on your plate comes from a little farm in the countryside or from one of the biggest producers in the industry: That cow probably produces the same amount of methane.

What can you do? First of all, we have to acknowledge the fact that the choices we make every day influence the food industry. 10 years ago, vegan milk was found in select stores, but now you can buy it from almost every supermarket. You don’t have to completely eliminate meat from your diet (at the beginning at least), but you can make sustainable choices such as:

• Try not to overeat the amount of meat recommended for your age and health group;
• Introduce “meatless-days”, when you adopt a vegan/vegetarian diet on specific days; you can also invite your friends and family to join and share recipes of your favorite recipes, but without the animal products;
• Avoid buying too many animal products that you know you won’t be able to consume before they go bad, or if you have more than you need, donate some;
• Try the vegan/vegetarian alternatives of your favorite protein-rich foods, such as vegan burgers, plant-based milk, and alternatives of tofu and beans.

The takeaway: Any changes we make to our day-to-day lives have a great impact on the climate when maintained over the course of multiple years. One veggie burger won’t save the planet but one a week over a five-year period will surely be a great step forward. This effect is further amplified when entire communities adopt changes to their lifestyles. The point isn’t forcing people into veganism but rather achieving a sustainable way of life that is good for us and the planet.

However, keep in mind that personal life changes, no matter how widely adopted, cannot single-handedly solve our climate crisis. Systematic change must be achieved across all branches of society, starting with the energy sector and ending with the food web, for our goal to be reached.