Eating less meat would save emissions, like driving a Prius

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1387186.php/Eating_less_meat_would_save_emissions_like_driving_a_Prius

Nature News

Eating less meat would save emissions, like driving a Prius

Jan 16, 2008, 16:54 GMT

...

Brown says that the energy used to provide the typical American diet is 'roughly equal' to that used for personal transportation.

'A plant-based diet requires about one fourth as much energy as a diet rich in red meat,' Brown said in a statement. 'The reduction in carbon emissions in shifting from a red meat-rich diet to a plant-based diet is about the same as that in shifting from a Chevrolet Suburban SUV to a Toyota Prius hybrid car.'

In the book that sweeps across all current energy, ecology and political issues, including those of failing states, Brown points out that even vegetables have their environmental cost.

Most Americans have come to take for granted fresh strawberries shipped 4,800 kilometres from the West to East Coast, fresh green beans from Kenya and fresh mangoes from Mexico. All consume huge amounts of fuel for transport, contributing to the carbon emissions blamed for global warming.

...

[LeftyMom]

1. In cold climates, off-season produce from heated greenhouses also has high fuel costs

to the point where imported food can be a more ecological choice (local and seasonal is better, but in some climates that's harder than others. I'm lucky that it's easy here.) There's a pretty good discussion of that issue in The Ethics of What We Eat. I thought the book as a whole was kinda wishy-washy and meh, but that section was well done.

But meat definitely has high carbon costs, due to feed and transport, as well as the need for cold storage and long heating to kill disease-causing organisms (carbon costs in food preparation get overlooked, but, if I'm remembering the book right, are as big a factor as production. Plant foods definitely have the advantage here as well, very few of them require long cooking times and most can be cooked very quickly)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. I have several friends who are

political vegetarians-they aren't eating meat just because of this.

[YankeyMCC]

3. I've cut way way down on my meat consumption

I never thought I would, I love a good rare steak, I love to bbq (I have 2 smokers), but after reading "Omnivore's Dilemma" and learning more since then about the impact on the environment of meat production and consumption I've cut way down.

Funny thing though...I've been gaining weight since I've done this :shrug: That's a good thing though I've been wanting to up my weight a bit.

[BadgerKid]

4. In the bigger picture it's not food alone.

Lately I have become more and more cognizant of the following. The only constant we have is direct energy from the sun. (And even that is technically exhaustable, but not any time soon.) Everything else after the sun is a balance among land, population, food, natural resources, producable energy, etc. (Edit: A dynamic balance.)

IMO it's not going to be until the majority of the world population "gets it" that we'll be able to stop racing from one corner of the bed to pull down the matress sheet while the opposite corner pops off. (Edit: Or, we think of a way to work together with the dynamic balance. Well, gee, native peoples have known this forever.)

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. The only constant we have is direct energy from the sun.

There are exceptions to this rule; most notably, nuclear fission and fusion.

Other than those, almost everything else boils down to solar power. (Fossil fuels trace back to photosynthesis, wind traces back to heat from the Sun...)

[Kolesar]

8. Isn't geothermal heat a product of nuclear reactions in the Earth's core?

In Iceland, they use the geothermal heat to heat the soil for year-round gardening.

[OKIsItJustMe]

10. At least partly (probably mostly) nuclear decay, yes

It was also suggested that nuclear fusion (i.e. "cold fusion") might be involved.

You're right though; I'd count it as another notable exception to the rule.

[here_is_to_hope]

6. What if I just eat the Prius? n/t

[Evoman]

7. Yeah, it's true. But there are a lot of things we could do to save on emissions.

Riding bikes, watching less tv, eating less (of everything), less time on the computer, shut down sports arenas, make and buy less clothes, no ATVs, etc.

It's easy to point at other people and tell them to shape up...lot harder to see what your doing wrong and make the changes.

Although, I don't disagree with you.

[Kolesar]

9. Americans can cut electricity use by double digit percentages in an instant

if they wanted to. I would miss recreational travel if I cut that out.

[OneBlueSky]

11. I've also cut my meat intake way back in recent years . . .

I've pretty much given up beef (except for the very occasional spaghetti and meatballs), and I'm working on pork -- though a BLT in fresh tomato season is an all-time favorite . . . my protein these days comes primarily from chicken and fish, and I'm about ready to switch from supermarket chicken to more expensive (and healthier) "free-range" chickens raised without drugs . . .