Less Meat, Smaller Carbon Footprint
Posted by Kelly Smith on Wed, Apr 28, 2010
What we eat has a significant effect on our carbon footprint. Green restaurants with sustainable business plans are doing things like serving less meat and buying locally grown food. For example, New York's new vegetarian fast food chain, Otarian, is the first restaurant chain to keep customers informed about the carbon footprints of their menu choices based on a specific international standard.
The carbon footprint of the food we eat incorporates both the energy needed to produce the food and the energy needed to ship the food to its final destination. Long-distance food shipping is a little more intuitive as far as carbon emissions are concerned. What many consumers are not as aware of is the high carbon cost of eating meat. It takes at least ten pounds of grain to produce one pound of beef, meaning that farmers use ten times more cropland, fossil fuel, and fertilizers to produce beef rather than corn or wheat. In addition, cows emit methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.
Cattle farmers often ship their cows around the country to find the best grazing land, which also contributes to the great inefficiency of raising beef. It actually takes 78 fossil fuel calories to produce just one pound of hamburger, making beef one of the most inefficient foods that a person can eat. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Americans ate an average of 100 pounds of beef per person in 2007. That is a lot of waste.
The smaller the animal, the smaller the carbon footprint, but the most planet-friendly diet is one comprised of plant-based foods. Some people find it challenging to know what to eat without meat as a centerpiece of a meal. However, sustainable restaurants such as Otarian, which has three locations opening in the next few months, are making sustainable dining both cooler and more approachable to the average person.
Photo via Skinnyde