Meat consumption kills more than just a cow

You might not even care about the environment because you think
it does not affect you and your life, but it does.

Over 130 million Americans live in areas where it is unsafe to
even breathe. Smog-triggered asthma attacks cut short the lives of
30,000 Americans each year. This air pollution causes global
warming, another threat to the environment for our children and
ourselves.

For this reason, we are faced with a generally surprising
decision: whether to reduce our meat consumption or not. Although
to most people meat consumption seems completely irrelevant to
environmental issues, in truth the widespread production of meat
for food is one of the world’s top environmental
degradations. For example, in order to produce one pound of meat,
2,500 gallons of water is squandered, six square yards of rain
forest land is destroyed, and 16 pounds of grains and soybeans are
eaten by the cows. Think about that the next time you order a
Double Quarter Pounder. By cutting down your meat intake you are
able to help sustain our environment for future generations.

As Americans, we import more than 200 million pounds of beef
from Central America alone. One football field of rain forest is
destroyed every second of every day so that we can produce 257 of
our treasured hamburgers. Every time you eat a quarter-pound
hamburger you are destroying six square yards of rain forest land.
In order to graze cows, soil rich lands are needed and used, mostly
rain forest land.

However, unlike growing crops on land, grazing animals on land
makes it nearly impossible to use any piece of land more than once
because of the treatment to the land. What does this mean? With the
destruction of so much land comes the destruction of plants and
other species. Ever wonder why we have so many endangered species?
Think red meat. A 1997 United States Fish and Wildlife Service
study of endangered species found that half the species they
studied were threatened by the grazing of cows alone. Plain and
simple: when you eat meat you kill more than just a cow.

Through the vast destruction of rain forests (mostly done with a
quick slash and burn technique) all the carbon dioxide stored in
these plants is released into the air, creating not only problems
for our ozone layer, but acid rain as well. Rain forests moderate
our climate, keeping us from becoming a desert world. Additionally,
the machinery used to destroy these rain forests lets off its own
emissions of carbon dioxide. And as expressed, the number one
reason for this mindless destruction is beef production.

To put this in perspective, the average car produces 3 kilograms
of carbon dioxide per day. However, to make one hamburger, the
clearing of these rain forests releases 75 kilograms of carbon
dioxide into our atmosphere.

Additionally, cattle produce almost one fifth of the
world’s methane emissions, one of the ozone-depleting
substances that is 24 times as potent as carbon dioxide.
That’s more than just a stinky problem.

So, what does one do with all this information? Well, it’s
simple. You don’t have to throw out those favored steaks or
chicken nuggets for your lifetime. A small change can make a big
difference. Thus, when you’re trying to figure out what to
eat, choose the path that leads to less meat. Remember that every
time you buy a hamburger at McDonalds, the risks are not only to
your own health.

We can choose to live in a world where we each have meat every
day and are constantly battling to save our environment, or one
where we live in moderation and can breathe in the benefits.

The choice is a small one. And your tiny decision will have a
huge impact.

Shah is a third-year communication studies student.