To Meat or Not to Meat
So what’s the deal with cutting out meat? Will a diet shift save the day for climate change?
Words: Sasha Wardrop
Whether or not to eat meat is a frequent on my list of internal struggles. On one hand, not eating meat would add many layers of difficulty to my life that, frankly, at times I don’t want to deal with. Eating with my meat-loving boyfriend, for example, would mean organising multiple dishes at once, or answering the questions that I’m sure many vegetarians have had to endure countless times “why don’t you eat meat”, “do you miss meat” and the common excuse “oh but it’s already dead you may as well just eat it”.
And to be completely honest, I enjoy eating meat. I grew up eating it and for most of my life have found it delicious. Put a burger in front of me and I won’t be able to resist it. After a night out you can be sure you will find me in the line at Maccas ready to order chicken nuggets.
On the other hand, there are so many reasons that make me feel uncomfortable consuming it.
For years, I found my meat eating habits contradictory to my love for animals. This confliction has caused me many bouts of guilt and internal dialogue.
In more recent years, my eyes have been opened to the extreme impacts the meat and poultry industries have on the environment.
The Conversation points out that the animal agriculture industry is the second-largest producer of greenhouse gasses in the world, beaten only by fossil fuels. This means it produces more emissions than all ships, planes, trucks, cars, and other transport combined. Then there’s the food and resources that feed our food. The industry uses around 30% of the earth’s land surface, making it the single largest user of land, contributing to soil degradation, dwindling water supplies, and air pollution.
So for me, these facts were the final nail in the coffin of my trials and tribulations on whether or not to give up meat. But for some, it’s not that easy to give up meat entirely, and that’s okay.
So what do you think? Are you up to the challenge of reducing your meat intake by 50%?
