I’ve mentioned before that I appreciate the Nutrition Action newsletter published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The April issue is titled “The Planet-Lover’s Plate.”
Food accounts for nearly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, Nutrition Action says.
And one change can cut your diet’s carbon footprint in half: replacing beef with chicken or pork (even better would be a plant-based burger).
“Cattle are ruminants, so they expel a lot of methane as burps as they digest food,” says Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. And more comes from their manure.
As a heat-trapping gas, methane is about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and cattle live longer than other livestock.
“Chickens come to market in about six weeks, and pigs come to market in about six months,” Willett says.
“In contrast, cattle take about 1 to 1½ years to come to market if they’re grain fed and 2 to 2½ years if they’re grass fed,” he says. “And every day, they’re burping out methane and breathing out carbon dioxide.”
In addition, the fertilizers used to grow cattle feed release nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that’s 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
As a heat-trapping gas, methane is about 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide, and cattle live longer than other livestock.
“Chickens come to market in about six weeks, and pigs come to market in about six months,” Willett says.
“In contrast, cattle take about 1 to 1½ years to come to market if they’re grain fed and 2 to 2½ years if they’re grass fed,” he says. “And every day, they’re burping out methane and breathing out carbon dioxide.”
In addition, the fertilizers used to grow cattle feed release nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that’s 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
It also takes large quantities of fossil fuels to process and transport that feed.
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