4 lbs of Red Meat per Year
An Imperfect Approach to Livestock Emissions
One of the many ways in which I am an imperfect climate steward is that I eat meat. And I like it. A few years ago, in an effort to reduce the environmental impact of my diet, I “stopped” eating red meat. I allowed myself one cheat month every year — coinciding with my birthday month — when I could eat as much red meat as I wanted. Ultimately, though, I wondered if I was really doing anything differently. Since there was no limit on my cheat month, was I simply concentrating nearly a year’s worth of red meat into 31 days? The cheat month model also put me in situations when I badly wanted to eat red meat but couldn’t because it was the wrong time of year.
Enter the Republican uproar over President Biden’s climate plan in early 2021. Among their misleading claims about this plan was that it would limit meat consumption to 4 pounds per year, which represented a 90 percent reduction from the typical amount one American eats in a year. When I heard that, though, I thought, what a great idea! It put a number on how to mitigate my climate impact while still consuming red meat.
A quarter pound a month, plus a quarterly bonus
So, rather than squeezing all four pounds (or perhaps more) into one month as I had been doing before, I would dole out my red meat allowance by month. There are 16 ounces in a pound, so 64 ounces over the course of a year. If I have four ounces (a quarter pound) every month, that equates to 48 ounces over a year, so with the 16 ounces I have left, I can have an additional quarter pound every quarter (or every three months).
The ounces would roll over from month to month, and this is especially handy to cover times when I expect to encounter higher than average red meat temptation. For example, I am planning to visit Spain this year, and I will definitely need to bank some ounces to cover all the cured meats that I will be having while there. Luckily, cured meats don’t weight that much!
What do I mean by “red meat,” exactly?
The definition of red meat from the Department of Agriculture, is surprisingly granular, having to do with myoglobin, and I’m not entirely sure if the dark parts of chicken might actually qualify as red meat. But I define red meat as meat from mammals, so from cow, pig, sheep, goat, deer, rabbit, etc. Apparently, lamb has the highest emissions per pound of these red meats, but since I never particularly liked the taste of lamb (or sheep, goat, deer, or rabbit) — they are all too gamey for me — beef was the biggest emitter in my diet.
As an aside, it’s so interesting to me that when I talk to people about my limit on red meat consumption, how often they think that pork isn’t a red meat. It unequivocally is, even by definitions other than mine, but clearly the pork industry’s ad campaign in the 1980s to define pork as “the other white meat” was incredibly effective.
Avoid cooking red meat at home
In order to keep to my four-pound limit, I will continue to avoid buying red meat when I do my grocery shopping. Pre-packaged raw meat usually comes in portions of at least a pound, so unless I want to eat the same portion of meat for a few months, that’s not really an option. I generally buy my meats (namely, chicken) from a local butcher, so I could get smaller quantities there, but limiting my consumption of red meat to when I eat out will keep things in check. The one downside to this strategy is that the weight will often be an approximation because, unless I’m ordering a steak, menus generally don’t specify the amount of meat.
What I eat instead
I do eat chicken, seafood, and eggs, but many of my meals are vegetarian. At home, I don’t cook that much with meat — red or otherwise — since I don’t like the food safety precautions associated with it. I am quite careful when it comes to handling chicken and washing the cooking implements that touch the chicken, and I find it all a bit of a hassle. It’s much simpler to cook with just vegetables, which don’t have quite as nasty microbes associated with them in the normal scheme of things. Although, don’t get me wrong, be sure to wash vegetables.
Since I made the switch to a low-meat diet, I’ve been relying on my plant-centric cookbooks. Full disclosure: I work for the company that published the first two books, but since I work for a different part of the company, I do not directly gain from their sales.
This cookbook is amazing. All the recipes are vegetarian, and they are incredibly easy to make. If you get one thing out of it, follow their instructions on how to destem kale. It changed my life. Unfortunately, I think the physical book is out of print, but it should still be available as an ebook. The authors were also behind The Washington Post’s Plant Powered newsletter, which was also full of great recipes. I love their 20-minute tacos.
All the recipes in this book are vegan, which means that no animal products are used (no eggs, animal cheeses, etc.), so I get an even bigger carbon benefit every time I use it. I tend to avoid the dressings that use cashew water in place of milk or cream, and I haven’t yet found the strength in me to press tofu, but otherwise, the recipes are wonderful and easy to make. I love the wasabi miso lime dressing, and the Roasted Niçoise Salad, like many of the salads, can be a meal by itself.
Joy of Cooking: All about Vegetarian Cooking
This book is out of print, with no ebook, so unless you are willing to buy it used, this recommendation is of no use. Some of the recipes are a little fussy, and I’m not a fan of revealing the ingredients as you go through the recipe, but every recipe I’ve made from this book is a winner. My favorites are the Black Bean, Corn, and Tomato Salad (so easy, and good for nearly a week’s worth of lunches) and the Sesame Stir-Fried Lentils and Vegetables. It’s very possible that these recipes are somewhere in the larger Joy of Cooking, but I haven’t looked.
Bowls! Recipes and Inspirations for Healthful One-Dish Meals
This book is not entirely meat-free, but as the author describes it, it’s “plant-forward.” Many of the recipes can be made to be vegetarian. For example, the Kalefornia Bowl suggests adding cooked chicken, but since there are already beans, you’re not missing much without it. One of my favorite recipes in this book, though, is a meat recipe: the roast chicken you end up with by following this recipe is memorable. And I’ve had the Zuni Cafe roast chicken. One note, though: The recipes are good but not necessary quick and easy. I thought I would be saving time by making one bowl rather than a main and a side, but I came to find that each bowl was like preparing a main and two sides.
Tracking my meat budget
This year, 2023, is the first I’ll be trying out this approach, and unlike with my cheat month, I plan to track my “spending” like I track everything: with an Excel spreadsheet. My partner, who loves steak and cheeseburgers, is eager to join me in my red meat meals, and I can’t wait to have one of his World’s Best Grilled Burgers. He has practically planned out all of my meat consumption for the year. My spreadsheet will tell me when I hit 4 pounds, and whether it’s May or the end of December, I will stop eating red meat for the rest of the year. And if I somehow end up with any ounces left at the end of the year, they will not roll over to the next year, like a true fiscal budget. I’m excited to see how I do!
