What’s the beef?

The amount of meat we eat can help or harm the planet

… For example, eating a typical family-of-four steak dinner is equal to driving around in an SUV for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home, he says.

“In all, the average American meat eater is responsible for one and a half tonnes more CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas — enough to fill a large house — than someone who eats no meat,” he writes.

Meanwhile, global meat consumption is expected to double within the next 40 years.

Not unlike Michael Pollan’s New York Times bestseller In Defense of Food, Bittman’s book twins healthy eating with environmentally sustainable consumption in easily digestible bites.

The premise is simple: “Eat less meat and junk food, eat more vegetables and whole grains.”

“It’s like oil,” Bittman said. “We’re at peak oil right now. We’re also at peak meat. About 70% of the world’s farmland is dedicated to livestock production.”

In order to satiate carnivorous appetites, we’re clear cutting rainforests to breed cattle, he said.

“You can’t find a more efficient way to grow and eat meat as it’s already incredibly efficient,” he said. “You can’t increase production of meat without increasing land use. But there’s no more land.”

Toronto Sun