Eating less meat is fine with a majority of Americans
0Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/13/21136515/meat-plant-based-climate-change-impossible-burger-beyond-fruit-vegetables
Reported today in The Verge.
Eating less meat is fine with a majority of Americans
More than nine in ten Americans "are willing" to eat more fruits and vegetables, and more than half are open to giving up some red meat and chowing down on more plant-based meat alternatives, according to a new survey of more than a thousand adults in the US by Yale and the nonprofit Earth Day Network.
Why aren't there more greens on Americans' plates? Sixty-four percent of survey participants said it was as simple as nobody ever asking them to eat more plant-based foods. Another 58 percent said that a greener diet just costs too much, and another roughly 50 percent are either unsure what plant-based foods to buy or don't know how to cook them.
Whatever the barrier, experts say that it's an environmental imperative for people to eat more plants. "If we do not make the connection between food that we're eating and climate change, we're doing ourselves a disservice," says Jillian Semaan, food and environment director at the Earth Day Network. "The most immediate action anyone can take [on climate change] today is to look at what they're putting on their plate and what they're putting in their body," she tells The Verge.
A bite of meat typically comes with a bigger carbon footprint than a bite of fruits, vegetables, or grains. That's because it generally takes more energy and resources to raise livestock. Think about it this way: instead of raising crops to feed people, there's an extra step of raising crops to raise animals to feed people. Livestock are responsible for 14.5 percent of all the greenhouse gas emissions humans pump into the atmosphere, and a majority of that comes from cows. Cattle farming in Brazil is also a culprit behind deforestation and, consequently, fires in the Amaz