A Case of the (Meatless) Mondays

It's a new year, which for many people means new resolutions on what to do with your spare time, how (and how much) to work out, and what you'll put in that body.

This post isn't about something to buy, but rather something *not* to buy--meat. Eating less meat, or none at all, can affect the health of our planet more than you might think. It's not going to save the world in one fell swoop, but according to stats gathered by the Environmental Working Group, over the course of one year,

If you eat one less burger a week, it’s like taking your car off the road for 320 miles or line-drying your clothes half the time. ¹⁰
If your four-person family skips meat and cheese one day a week, it’s like taking your car off the road for five weeks – or reducing everyone’s daily showers by 3 minutes. ¹¹
If your four-person family skips steak once a week, it’s like taking your car off the road for nearly three months. ¹²
If everyone in the U.S. ate no meat or cheese just one day a week, it would be like not driving 91 billion miles – or taking 7.6 million cars off the road. <sup>13

(references below)</sup>

I haven't eaten red meat in nearly 20 years, or a good 2/3 of my life (and have mostly been either pure veg or pescatarian). My first reasons for quitting meat, at the tender age of 11, were mostly environmental: a good friend schooled me in junior high on the footprint of the meat industry. The difference then, and for the years that followed, was that I had no interest in proselytizing, bringing others into my camp: in fact, I didn't want to cramp anyone's style lest they not enjoy that sizzling steak as much after hearing my reasons for abstinence. This probably came from my aversion to confrontation, but that's for another blog.

But things have changed, and my message today is to consider your food choices carefully, and resolve to eat less meat, or none at all. One way is through the Meatless Mondays pledge. It's not the total solution, but it's a step in the right direction. And your body will thank you later.

Happy New Year!
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10- The line dry calculation is based on average single household energy consumption, EPA website. http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator2.html#c=waste&p=reduceAtHome&m=calc_WYCD; Accessed February 2011:
11- Ibid
12- EWG calculation assumes replacing the consumption of an 8-ounce steak with 8 ounces of vegetable protein as follows: 6.1 (CO2e of 8 ounces beef) – .48 (8 ounces of vegetable protein) = 5.62 kg CO2 saved per person for each day of replacing meat with protein. 5.6*52 = 292 kgs =.29 metric tons saved replacing steak one day a week over one year. 29 metric tons = 639 miles (see above)*4 = 2,557 miles (nearly three months of driving) if family of four skips steak once a week.
13- EWG assumes replacement of average per capita meat and cheese consumption with a vegetable meal of equivalent protein content. The calculation is as follows: 3.19 CO2e-.60 CO2e = 2.59 kg saved per day. 2.59*52=135 kg CO2e = 13.5 metric tons. Entire US population going meatless and cheese-less one day a week over a year: 13.5*309050816 = 41,421,860 metric tons = 90,699,696,000 miles driven = 7,558,308 cars off the road.