Shades of Green: The Meat of the Matter
Can a family of meat eaters kick the habit?
Sometimes, as an environmentalist, I feel like a giant hypocrite. Sure, I set our thermostat to 66 degrees, I bring my reusable bags to the grocery store and I’ve even committed to reducing our family’s food waste. We work hard as a family to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle. But, in other ways, I know I could be making more sustainable choices.
There is one glaring issue in particular that’s been, well, eating away at me: We are a family of meat eaters.
From our weekly pasta with meat sauce dinner to the pepperoni sticks my daughter demands in her lunchbox, my husband’s love of bacon and my weakness for salmon steaks, we eat a lot of meat.
While we consume significantly less than the national average, meat is a regular fixture in our household. And we’re not alone. We’re one of the many families caught in America’s meat addiction, and it’s costing the planet.
Animal agriculture is responsible for nearly 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions created by humans. And here in the United States, 80 percent of the land used for agriculture goes to raise animals and grow feed — that adds up to nearly half of the total land mass of the lower 48 states.
As livestock graze, they trample important habitats, use enormous amounts of water, burp methane and create a whole lot of manure. And don’t think seafood is without consequence. Overfishing threatens entire ocean ecosystems, and endangered species like the vaquita get entangled in fishing nets.
80 percent of the land used for agriculture in the United States goes to raise animals and grow feed.
There’s no question that the American appetite for meat is a huge threat to wildlife and wild places, and working at the Center for Biological Diversity, I know the statistics well. So what’s the deal? Why hasn’t our family cut our meat consumption?
The simple answer is probably the most disappointing: It’s a habit, and habits can be hard to break. Making meals you know is easier than branching out to try something new.
We struggle to get our preschooler to eat meals we already know she loves; the thought of presenting her with unknowns is scary. And, as a family living with a relatively tight budget, we can often stretch it a little further with quick meat choices.
But I also admit it’s more than that. We like meat. For both myself and my husband, meat was a treat when we were growing up. Some of our sweetest childhood memories revolve around recipes — making beef tamales during Christmas, roasting a giant turkey for Thanksgiving and grilling burgers in the backyard on the Fourth of July.
So what’re we to do?
The first is to give up the goal of perfection. Sometimes the fear of failure can be so overwhelming you give up before you’ve even started. But reducing our family’s impact doesn’t have to mean we have to cut out meat entirely. In fact, just reducing our consumption by one third can have a significant effect.
We’re starting with baby steps: Each day, I avoid meat during breakfast and lunch. We’ve also established one night a week that is completely meat-free.
When we do eat meat, I try to use less of it. For example, I’ve reduced the amount of ground beef in our spaghetti sauce by a quarter pound. And, perhaps most importantly, we’re working hard to not waste the meat we eat. We eat dinner leftovers for lunch the next day, incorporate extra meat into other recipes and use the freezer to store meat so it lasts longer.
By purchasing more plant-based options, we can vote with our wallets and push for a more sustainable food system.
Many of these changes are small, but each little change adds up. Not only by reducing our dietary impact on the planet, but also by helping my family of meat eaters get more comfortable with changing our habits. And by purchasing more plant-based options, we can vote with our wallets and push for a more sustainable food system.
But, the truth is, we need the support of the government to change our food system’s destructive ways. Meat production is steeply subsidized by federal policies while organic producers lack support.
In fact, we don’t grow enough fruits and vegetables in the United States to ensure Americans have enough to meet dietary guidelines. And livestock production lacks many safeguards and enforcement that would reduce some of its impact on waterways, habitat and endangered species.
So while I’ll keep adding plant-based meals to my recipe box (some winter favorites have been ratatouille and three-bean chili) and working to convince my toddler she is not, in fact, a carnivore like her beloved T-rex, I’m also pushing the government to make the changes needed to create a food system that’s healthier for my family and the planet.
Jessica Herrera is a media specialist for the Center for Biological Diversity.
