Folks, we have a serious problem on Earth, and it can be summed up in two words: cow farts.
Yeah, I know — it’s hard to take an issue seriously when it involves “cow” and “fart” in the same sentence.
But cow farts are made of methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times worse than CO2. And cattle produce spectacular amounts of the stuff: about 100 gallons per beast per day. Multiply that by the number of cows on Earth (1.5 billion) and you get a scenario that doesn’t bode well for the future of Tahoe snowpacks: Every day, cattle pump out 150 billion gallons of potent greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
The amount is so massive that cattle “emission” has become a major player in climate change. The tail end of the animal warms the planet in further ways: Cow manure releases even more methane into the atmosphere, as well as the more potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide, which has 300 times the warming potential of CO2.
But the impacts don’t stop there. Cattle and other livestock need to eat, and the crops we grow for them add tremendously to their global impact. In the U.S.:
• 45 percent of the grain we produce is fed to livestock. If we took that grain and gave it to humans, we could feed 800 million people.
• More than half of our water (56 percent) is used to grow crops for livestock — an especially sobering figure, given the drought.
• Feed crops, which consist mostly of corn and soy, are treated annually with 167 million pounds of pesticides and 17 billion pounds of nitrogen fertilizer, the latter of which releases huge amounts of nitrous oxide when applied to crops.
All barnyard animals contribute to climate change (more on that below,) but none quite so much as the cow. If you find yourself asking, “Where’s the beef?” before each meal, here’s the hard truth:
Beef creates more greenhouse gasses, more pollution, and uses more water than any other single food on the planet. Every serving of beef — every burger, every 4 oz steak, every roast beef sandwich — takes 464 gallons of water to produce, and generates more than 5 pounds of greenhouse gases.
If you’re a vegetarian who eats cheese, you’re not off the hook. Cheese produces the third highest amount of greenhouse emission among foods, followed by pork, farmed salmon (which is fed corn and soy), turkey, and chicken. Lamb actually tops the list, ahead of beef, but since lamb only constitutes one percent of total meat eaten in the U.S., beef takes the prize — far and away — as the most destructive food on the planet. No other single food even comes close.
Okay, so the cheeseburger you had for dinner might not be so environmentally responsible, but you do your part in other ways — you recycle, use compact fluorescent lightbulbs, buy Energy Star appliances, conserve water, and maybe even drive a fuel-efficient car. That’s awesome. Keep doing those things — they’re important and they really add up. But if you eat beef and dairy, the most important action you can take to reduce your carbon footprint and conserve water is to cut back on the cow products.
To put this another way: Livestock agriculture contributes more to climate change than the emissions from all forms of global transportation combined; all cars, trucks, airplanes, trains, and marine vessels on the planet combined. That’s not to say that transportation doesn’t contribute — it absolutely does. But animal-centered diets contribute more*.
I’m not suggesting you become a vegan, although doing so would massively reduce your carbon footprint. (If you’re already vegan, I bow to you.) But there are rather painless ways to cut back on beef and other animal products so your carbon footprint is less “Sasquatch” size, and more “Tinkerbell.”
One way is to take the Meatless Monday pledge, along with celebs like Paul McCartney, Emily Deschanel, and director James Cameron. The Tahoe Truckee Unified School District jumped on board, too, and is now serving Meatless Monday fare in our local schools. If you’re worried that your partner or family will rebel, the website MeatlessMonday.com can help with recipes and motivation. Skipping red meat, especially processed red meat, is much healthier for you anyway. Focus more on plant proteins like lentils, beans, tofu, and nuts.
Skip the gratuitous add-on cheese, and dishes that are “smothered” or “extra cheesy.” Soft cheeses, like feta, mozzarella, cottage cheese, muenster, gouda, and cream cheese take less milk and therefore have a lower carbon footprint. Swap the cow milk for almond, soy, rice, or coconut milk.
Eating meatless on Monday is just one small step. On other days of the week, make meat a side dish, not the main entrée. It’s better for you, and better for the planet.
*For an eye-opening view into Big Ag and its efforts to keep you a happily-oblivious carnivore, watch the documentary Cowspiracy, available on Netflix.
