No Red Meat Eco-Challenge!

Reconsidering Red Meat Challenge

December - February

Moo-Moo Move over red meat: we’re taking a break. (We at the Green Team take great pride in our puns). This is not to say that we don’t love your delicious taste or how you flavor a broth. You're the potato's other half. But you are racking up some real carbon emissions. According to Treehugger, you, red meat, are the most resource-intensive food on the table and eating less of it can be the single most green move a person makes.

We're not saying there are not good farmers who raise you right, because there are. We’re just trying to prove that we, Brooklynites (New Yorkers, Americans) can cut back on our intake while we reassess our participation in the process of cow to table. We are excluding other types of meat from this Challenge: Chicken, fish, pork, turkey, and venison all remain fair game (again with the puns). Won't you join us?

EMAIL BROOKLYNGREEN@GMAIL.COM TO JOIN THE CHALLENGE.

FACTS

A Study in New Scientist magazine reported that the production of one kilogram of beef produced as many greenhouse gases as three hours of driving.

Links between meat consumption and climate change have been widely known for many years, partly due to deforestation in the Amazon rainforest to make room for the livestock (guardian.co.uk).

Meat production has increased by 500 percent since 1950 (Worldwatch Institute).

Approximately 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production. Livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation. (New York Times)

Experts predict that by 2050 nearly twice as much meat will be produced as today, for a projected total of more than 465 million tons. (Worldwatch Institute)http://www.worldwatch.org/

Stuart B. Levy, M.D., who has studied the subject for years, estimates that there are 15-17 million pounds of antibiotics used sub-therapeutically in the United States each year. Evidence suggests that the sub-therapeutic use of antibiotics in food animals can pose health risks to us. (PBS Frontline)

Livestock emit methane and other greenhouse gases through excrement and belching. The FAO estimates that cow manure and flatulence generate 30 to 40 percent of total methane emissions from human-influenced activities. (The New Standard)

This graph is a good one and it's courtesy of Good.

A pound of beef requires around 12,000 gallons of water to produce, compared to 60 gallons for a pound of potatoes or 278 gallons for one pound of chicken. Check out this graph.

Read) fine out what author Jonathan Safran Foer has to say about the subject of factory farms in his new book, Eating Animals. Then there's always Michael Pollan.

Videos - For Our Digital Age

ABC News Clip about Beef
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=232F6H7mPyM

Meat the Facts on Global Warming
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiYghMmFc_8&feature=related

Alternatives

Meat Alternatives lists brands of meat alternatives by country and product. Explore the site to find out what vegans are eating in Belgium or Maritius.

Eco Salon posts delicious alternatives to add variety to your diet, including quinoa, almonds, legumes and more.

The Vegetarian Times is an excellent resource for healthy eating with resource pages to ensure you’re maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet.

So, this winter, leave the meat, take the cannolis.