What's the beef with the meat industry?

There is no doubt that riding your bike to work instead of using a car reduces your carbon footprint, but some scientists suggest the best thing you could to do to help the planet is to go vegan.

The entire food supply chain of the meat industry contributes to a variety of environmental problems. Here are some of them.

1. It causes deforestation and habitat loss

The meat industry is the single biggest driver of deforestation, which is also leading to habitat destruction and wildlife loss. Extensive cattle ranching is the number one reason for the destruction of the Amazon forest.Converting natural habitats to agricultural fields releases 340 million tons of carbon to the atmosphere annually, which is the equivalent to 3.4% of current global emissions.

2. It fuels climate change

It's not only deforestation that contributes to climate change. Methane emissions from cattle and the detrimental impact of fertilizers on top of deforestation create as much greenhouse gas emissions as all the world’s cars, trucks and airplanes. Cattle raised for both milk and beef is responsible for about 65% of the livestock sector’s emissions. The impact of read meat is so high that producing a kilogram of beef emits 60 kilograms of CO2 compared to peas, for example, which generates just 1 kilogram per plant protein.

Click on the chart for full screen

Source: Poore and Nemecek, Science

3. It's water and pesticide intensive

On top of this, animal agriculture is responsible for 20 to 33 percent of all fresh water consumption in the world. This valuable resource is under siege by factory farming when farmers use pesticides on crops, the excessive amount of which are left to runoff and cause pollution to nearby waterways. Animal waste also adds to this problem if not repurposed in a sustainable way. When manure is not used as a fertilizer, it is stored in open lagoons which usually overflow and release substances like antibiotics, bacteria, pesticides, and heavy metals, polluting surrounding waters.

So how do we reverse those consequences? There is no single solution but changing the way we farm and consuming less red meat and involving more plants in our diet are the simplest steps towards a more sustainable future.