ON "THE HUMMER OF FOOD"

ONE MORE THING...

Just as we're getting our heads around the challenges and opportunities of greening our houses and cars, seems we need to consider the carbon footprint of our food as well.  As this story on Brietbart.com explains:

"When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food, scientists say.

Simply switching from steak to salad could cut as much carbon as leaving the car at home a couple days a week.

That's because beef is such an incredibly inefficient food to produce and cows release so much harmful methane into the atmosphere, said Nathan Pelletier of Dalhousie University in Canada.

Pelletier is one of a growing number of scientists studying the environmental costs of food from field to plate.

By looking at everything from how much grain a cow eats before it is ready for slaughter to the emissions released by manure, they are getting a clearer idea of the true costs of food.

The livestock sector is estimated to account for 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and beef is the biggest culprit.

Even though beef only accounts for 30 percent of meat consumption in the developed world it's responsible for 78 percent of the emissions, Pelletier said Sunday at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

That's because a single kilogram of beef produces 16 kilograms carbon dioxide equivalent emissions: four times higher than pork and more than ten times as much as a kilogram of poultry, Pelletier said.

If people were to simply switch from beef to chicken, emissions would be cut by 70 percent, Pelletier said..."

"If meat consumption in the developed world was cut from the current level of about 90 kilograms a year to the recommended level of 53 kilograms a year, livestock related emissions would fall by 44 percent..."

"...Food is the third largest contributor to the average US household's carbon footprint after driving and utilities, and in Europe - where people drive less and have smaller homes - it has an even greater impact..."

"...The average US household contributes about five tons of carbon dioxide a year by driving and about 3.5 tons of equivalent emissions with what they eat..."

Who knew being a vegetarian was so carbon-footprint efficient?

* Image source.

Comments

[Alex Tolley]

"Who knew being a vegetarian was so carbon-footprint efficient?"

I think that this is pretty well evident, based on simple knowledge of the energetics of food chains.

Beef has one of the worst carbon footprints, especially grain fed beef raised on feedlots. It doesn't help that the methane production in these ruminants is an even worse GHG.

We don't need to remove beef from the diet (heaven forbid for us steak lovers), but to reduce it substantially.