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"On average Americans waste 150,000 tons of food a day, of which meat and dairy are the second most common items to be thrown away."
If you live in urban or suburban areas it might be hard to fathom, but about forty percent of the world’s land surface is used for farming. Out of that land, thirty percent of it is used support animals like pigs and cattle that will eventually be consumed by humans. People may have their varying opinions on whether it is ethical to eat meat or not, however, there is no debate that the livestock industry is a heavy contributor to climate change. According to a report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates about 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas admissions. Between what it takes to maintain the farmlands, irrigate the grain used to feed the animals, the process of slaughtering them, and packaging and shipping the finished products it is no surprise how much CO2 and methane is released into the air.
Raising livestock not only released harmful gases into the environment, but it also degrades the land on which they live. Around twenty percent of the land used for raising livestock is overgrazed, compacted, and eroded making the land unusable for the future. Degregration by overgrazing can also cause serious complications with the lands natural water cycle and may even cause farmers to need to draw in water from miles away just to keep the cattle feed. The use of fertilizers and pesticides along with the pollution of animal wastes, hormones, phosphorous and nitrogen are also one of the leading causes of water contamination which has lead to a decrease in marine biodiversity. But why are we not all more aware of the environmental cost of this industry?
Eating meat has been a long-standing tradition in human nature. For some it is used for a special occasion, others for everyday meals. However, it has been labeled as the “wealthy man’s food” with some types of steak coasting upwards of $200. This has created somewhat of a “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality which has caused the meat market to skyrocket in developed countries. On average the global livestock industry produces 258 million tons of meat a year, most of which is consumed in places like the Americas and Europe, with other underdeveloped countries receiving little to none. The fact of the matter is that we as a society do not need to consume as much meat as we do. Although some may argue it has superior nutritional value, there are plenty of plant-based alternatives that have a smaller environmental impact that meat production does. What’s even worse, is that on average Americans waste 150,000 tons of food a day, of which meat and dairy are the second most common items to be thrown away. Not only are we putting harmful chemicals into the environment we are simply throwing away the fruits of that labor anyway. If we threw away less of our meat and dairy and used our food resources wisely, there would be significantly less demand for these livestock products.