The problem with meat

And why I can’t laugh anymore?

Photo by Matt Herron — Cooper Downs cattle resort

When I first heard about an advertising campaign in Australia, 30 or more years ago, created because of farmers’ concerns that Aussies weren’t eating enough red meat, I laughed a lot. I thought it was brilliant because the headline summed up exactly the sentiment and action required, Eat Beef You Bastards. It travelled well on car bumpers and was plastered about towns in an effective gorilla marketing campaign.

A recent research article published in Nature Food, brings home the stark reality of the true cost to the planet of continuing to eat meat as often as we do.

What’s the issue with eating meat?

Food production creates a third of all greenhouse gases and takes up 70% of freshwater use. But animals for meat consumption is twice as polluting as growing plant-based food. 57% of all food production emissions are caused by cows, pigs, other animals and livestock feed. Only 29% comes from the cultivation of plant-based foods.

A staggering 17.3 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gases are produced every year in food production. This figure which includes machinery, fertiliser and transportation as well as the food itself, is double the entire emissions of the…