The meat industry generates more manmade greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation industry. We currently slaughter around 70 – 100 billion animals per year which is quite staggering. Most of us know that eating substantially less meat and dairy will alleviate some of the biggest negative impacts the industry is having on the environment. Deforestation, destruction of tropical rainforests, enormous water usage, plastic waste in the ocean (due to fishing), soil degradation, the devastation of factory farming, water way pollution and of course climate change contribution are all consequences of our growing rates of meat eating.
How many meals do you have each week that include some form of meat? Can you halve it?
We don’t need to be strict vegans 100% of the time at all, but we can all reduce our consumption significantly and that has a huge positive effect on your environmental footprint. One of our biggest tips to transition is to do direct swaps. Love tacos for example? Easy to make vegetarian and taste amazing!
If you’re looking for some more education and support, here are a few great resources we love:
🌱 The Green Pill episode on the Ezra Klein Podcast
🍉 In Defense of Food documentary on Netflix by Michael Pollan
🐄 Beyond Beliefs book by Melanie Joy
🌮 Recipes by @thugkitchen and @minimalistbaker
Note: We support Indigenous peoples in sustainable meat eating and really appreciate in some countries eating less meat is far less accessible. Do what you can, where you are and in alignment with your values.