Eating less beef is better for the environment than giving up cars

[aussiblue]

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/...est+Stories%29

Eating less beef is better for the environment than giving up cars

Becky Crew
Tuesday, 22 July 2014


A new study has revealed that beef’s environmental impact is 10 times that of chicken and pork.

As part of a recent study, a research team in the US assessed how much land, water and nitrogen fertiliser was required to raise different kinds of produce, including beef, chicken, pork, eggs, and dairy. Led by Gidon Eshel, professor of environmental science at Bard College in New York, the study was based on data collected between 2000 to 2010 by the US Departments of Agriculture, Interior and Energy.

The results, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today, show that cattle require on average 28 times more land and 11 times more irrigation water than pork or chicken, and six times as much nitrogen fertiliser as egg or poultry production. This adds up to the statistic that beef production releases five times more greenhouse gases than anything else.

While it was already known that beef production is having a pretty significant impact on the environment, this new analysis has quantified the damage in relation to other options to find out what we should be eating more and less of, environmentally speaking.

Lamb and fish meat were not included in the study because US consumption of both is relatively low.

The key to beef’s hefty environmental impact is that cattle are far less efficient at getting the most out of their food than pigs and chickens are. “Only a minute fraction of the food consumed by cattle goes into the bloodstream, so the bulk of the energy is lost,” Eshel told Damian Carrington at the Guardian, adding that feeding cattle grain rather than grass makes this inefficiency even worse.

While the research doesn’t mean you have to give up your beloved steak, it does offer a pretty effective way to reduce your carbon footprint - simply cut down on your consumption of it. "The biggest intervention people could make towards reducing their carbon footprints would not be to abandon cars, but to eat significantly less red meat,” said Tim Benton, the UK Champion for Global Food Security at the University of Leeds to the Guardian.

A good ballpark, as recommended by the Australian Department of Health, is sticking to 65 grams of cooked red meat per day, which is 90 to 100 grams of uncooked meat. If the average steak is between 200 and 350 grams, this means sticking to a steak and a half per week. As an extra incentive, not only will the environment thank you, but according to the Conversation, this will significantly reduce your risk of contracting bowel and stomach cancer

[QLD-Bluey]

Next they will be sayin' beer's no good for ya!!!

[Nova 8]

Don't eat beef.....

Eat deer!


Chicken and fish are my main sources of protein and am currently setting up to produce my own at home. Either way, I wouldn't eat any less beef then I do already because I like it.

[CoupeKing]

I cut back on my beef for those reasons and more, eating more fish and chicken now. I figure those two require less trees to be cut down. Then again, look at what some countries do to the oceans. 200+ million sharks killed each year, and a nice chunk of them dont even get consumed, either trapped in nets or the Dorsal Fin is sliced off and the shark thrown overboard.

Eating less food in general and not throwing it away is a step in the right direction. Sometimes it cant be helped to toss some food out, but its money you`re putting in the bin.

brb, going for a smoke.

[LG17]

Now that's a dilemma!

[BHDOGS]

It wouldnt matter if they discovered eating less beef cures cancer and revives the dead people wouldnt stop long as something doesnt affect them there golden. Its human nature.

[malazn mafia]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

It wouldnt matter if they discovered eating less beef cures cancer and revives the dead people wouldnt stop long as something doesnt affect them there golden. Its human nature.

And if everyone stopped having children there would eventually be less cancer, less dead people and it would be better for the environment

[mash again]

if you werent supposed to eat beef they wouldnt have made cows out of meat!

[burnz]

Originally Posted by mash again

if you werent supposed to eat beef they wouldnt have made cows out of meat!

thats... "so tasty meat".

[BHDOGS]

Originally Posted by malazn mafia

And if everyone stopped having children there would eventually be less cancer, less dead people and it would be better for the environment

Agree completely having child should be tightly controlled the rapid breeding rate is breeding us right into inevitable war and social collapse.

[Nova 8]

Originally Posted by BHDOGS

Agree completely having child should be tightly controlled the rapid breeding rate is breeding us right into inevitable war and social collapse.

Wars have been around longer than the world has had the population of China alone. Humans fight, its inevitable, war thins the heard so we can eat beef without concern.

[Crazy Dazz]

If every Greeny went and fed themselves to a shark, that would also improve the environment in many ways.
When they have all done that, maybe I will think about listening to some of their other BS.

NB: My Dad would eat "red meat" 3 meals a day if he could, he liked nothing better for breaky than mince on toast. He ended up with Lymphoma, caused by working on radar in the RAAF for much of his life, and in the end it was the Chemo that killed him.
Mum was almost a Vegan, no red meat, no dairy or eggs, etc. Ended up in agony from Osteoporosis, and died from Bowel Cancer.

[flooded one]

Originally Posted by Nova 8

Wars have been around longer than the world has had the population of China alone. Humans fight, its inevitable, war thins the heard so we can eat beef without concern.

yep the more population, the more will die. less people = less environmental destruction from humans eating beef.

On a related note do people that come up with these studies have heaps of time on there hands??? seems a pretty pointless study to me. I understand studys on humans knocking down forests and polluting waterways but what people eat caused destruction of the enviroment??? I find I fart more eating cabbage then eating beef.

also does anyone know that termites fart??? maybe all the termites in the world are causing global warming by farting!!

[The Yeti]

Well then we're ****** because I'm not giving up either

[mik]

Oh dear, all this reading is exhausting, takes another bite out of double whopper with cheese !............. Yes of course we will give up eating meat bwahaha haha haha haha haha .

[Nikked]

Love driving my V8 down to Bunning's to get the gas to grill my steak.

What of it.

[Franco Cozzo]

I'd sooner give up driving than I did eating beef, its probably 90% of my diet and I've had it 3 meals a day when I'm with mates.

Fish can stay in the water.

[The Yeti]

Originally Posted by Nikked

Love driving my V8 down to Bunning's to get the gas to grill my steak.

What of it.

do it on the weekend so you can grab a sausage sanga while your there

[FGX-351]

To quote Homer Simpson, "You don't win friends with salad!!".
This thread has given me the urge to BBQ.

[noflac52]

Looks like we are going to have to give up food altogether to survive because global food production puts out more greenhouse gases than all our cars, planes, ships, manufacturing and industry combined and they reckon by 2050 there will be 2 billion more people to feed.

At least we can have fun driving our gas guzzlers knowing that we aren't doing something really horrible to the world like "producing food!"

[mash again]

soylent green here we come!

[Peter B - CV8]

Originally Posted by mash again

soylent green here we come!

haha - was thinking the same thing Half the youngun's on here wouldn't know what you're talking about though...

[DJM83]

ill be stuffed if im walking to the butcher shop thats for sure.

Go study something useful..

[martinijosh]

Originally Posted by Peter B - CV8

haha - was thinking the same thing Half the youngun's on here wouldn't know what you're talking about though...

I'm 23 and I know what soylent green is. Its delicious!

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by martinijosh

I'm 23 and I know what soylent green is. Its delicious!

Sounds like something you put in the toilet to stop your sceptic tank going off.

[mik]

Originally Posted by mash again

soylent green here we come!

More people with every bite : )

[supershifty]

Originally Posted by martinijosh

I'm 23 and I know what soylent green is. Its delicious!

I'm 47 and had to Google it - I get it though! Don't watch much in the way of movies.

I eat like a shearer, one solid feed at night and it's usually 1/2 meat and 1/2 veg, when I'm lazy it's 100% pigout on meat.

Screw the environmental surveys, beer and dairy produce are my staple diet - something's gotta kill ya, I'll die happy!

Cheers!

[HULK EF]

The only dilemma i see is keeping the gravy in my beef roll while my territory turbo ghia guzzles down the dino juice.

[LG17]

If we eat less beef that means there'd be more cattle just roamin' around doing what cattle do...




Fart!


In other words there'd be more methane gas produced which has the opposite effect - it would be worse for the environment.


They should have just paid me for the research


Eat more beef!!!!

[burnz]

Originally Posted by Peter B - CV8

haha - was thinking the same thing Half the youngun's on here wouldn't know what you're talking about though...

I get on my knees and pray,
I wont get fooled again, no no.