Beef is off the Menu!
It’s been a long week. It’s time for some GOOD NEWS!
Almost 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally come from livestock (and everything involved in raising it); 61 percent of those emissions can be traced back to beef.
Cows are 20 times less efficient to raise than beans and roughly three times less efficient than poultry and pork.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IN 4 MINUTES?
It might not feel like much, but cutting out just a single ingredient—beef—can have an outsize impact on making a person’s cooking more environmentally friendly.
You can also read these articles and feel better about life!
1) CBC – Why Beef is off the Menu for some Climate-Conscious Foodies
2) Epicurious – The Planet on the Plate: Why Epicurious Left Beef Behind
Only have 4 minutes? Check out our highlights!
Got more time? Read more than one!
References
References
CBC – Why beef is off the menu for some climate-conscious foodies
Epicurious – The Planet on the Plate: Why Epicurious Left Beef Behind
GOAL
Good News Friday will lift our spirits and take us into a great weekend!
WHO?
Anyone who pays attention to current affairs cares about the environment, social services, democracy, fairness, the truth…
SOLUTION
Every Friday, instead of focusing on the negative and on the things we want to change, we focus on what’s already good in the world and spend time learning and sharing this news.
“You may not be responsible for getting down, but you must be responsible for getting up.”
Jesse Jackson
Highlights
CBC – Why Beef is off the Menu for some Climate-Conscious Foodies
Last week, the major U.S. food magazine and website, Epicurious, took a public stand on the issue by announcing they were no longer publishing beef recipes, because of how carbon-intensive the protein is.
“If you think about the point of a food publication like Epicurious, the whole point, its entire purpose, is to influence the way that people eat,”
“We have to think about sustainability. We have to think about future generations, because history will find us accountable for the choices that we make now.”
“Given the very high GHG emission intensity of beef, it should not be surprising that this analysis found that diversifying Canadian protein intake away from beef to be such an attractive option for lowering the GHG emission budget of the Canadian agriculture sector,” the report said.
[Ikeila Wright] is part of a growing number of people who are worried about the carbon footprint of meat — and beef in particular, which the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization estimates is responsible for 41 per cent of all livestock emissions, far more than other meats.
Epicurious – The Planet on the Plate: Why Epicurious Left Beef Behind
Almost 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally come from livestock (and everything involved in raising it); 61 percent of those emissions can be traced back to beef. Cows are 20 times less efficient to raise than beans and roughly three times less efficient than poultry and pork.
It might not feel like much, but cutting out just a single ingredient—beef—can have an outsize impact on making a person’s cooking more environmentally friendly.
Addressing climate change requires legislation, international cooperation, and buy-in from the corporate sector. Individual actions like choosing alt-meat—or mushrooms, or chickpeas—instead of the real thing can feel so small they’re essentially pointless. But every time you abstain from beef at the grocery store or a restaurant, you send a signal—to the grocery store, yes, but also, and perhaps more influentially, to whomever you talk to about your decision. Our announcement today is simply us loudly (and proudly!) letting you, the home cook, know about a step we’re taking. (Admittedly, we’re also hoping the rest of American food media joins us too.)