What I'm doing: Cutting out the meat

As I mentioned in an earlier post my food footprint was my most environmentally offensive impact on the planet. According to the results of my ecological footprint, one of the best ways to reduce my impact of my diet on the planet is to stop eating meat. The website govegbegreen.org outlines how a vegetarian diet could be central to mitigating climate change, slowing deforestation, and to ensure that there are adequate resources on the planet for all of its residents.

It is not always the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of climate change but the reality is that livestock production is the number one producer of green house gas in the world. Forget taking the bus, or switching to compact florescent light bulbs; if you want to cut out the number one source of greenhouse gas on the planet then you need to stop eating meat.

Like every other environmentally damaging activity global meat production is on the rise despite the looming threat of climate change. Estimates claim that by the year 2050 meat production will be double what it is today. Although the demand may be there, I find this very hard to believe because I do not think that there is anyway that our world could sustain a doubling in its number one green house gas emmitter. Fueling the rise in meat production are developing nations who are consuming more and more meat as their incomes grow.

Demanding that developing nations cut their meat consumption is not seen by many people in these nations. Those of us in developed nations have, for a long time, gorged ourselves with meat as a primary aspect of our diet and promised our lifestlye to any nation which could make itself more "developed". Just as India and China are becoming more affluent, their diets are changing to be more focused on meat just like our own. As their economies continue to grow this trend will not be easily reversed and will lead to this huge predicted increase in meat production.

In order to make a personal change in my life, this week I've heading into the deep end and cut meat out of my diet. I'm going to make no attempt to identify with any particular veggie sect and instead will simply pledge to not eat meat without resorting to extreme veganism by cutting out all by products. This won't be the easiest task for me because I cook meat at my workplace. Luckily I'm a good enough cook that I will be able to make good dishes without any meat but I still think this will be a challenge. To kick things off, tonight I made this garlic noodle dish. It wasn't the most healthy or nutritious meal in the world but as far as very simple noodles go this one was a winner.