Follow me	Joe Laur
	by Joe Laur

Meat and Vegetables: The Eater's Dilemma

I eat, therefore I am. Or at least I wouldn’t be for long if I didn’t eat. But all of our eating has an impact. So the real question, if I understand where my food comes from, is: What Do I want to Eat?

Some say that vegetarianism is the only way to go. That eating meat is way too cruel or way too harmful to the planet. Others ask, if we aren’t’ supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat? We do have omnivorous digestive systems, like a bear, equipped for both meat and veggies. Life eats life- there’s no getting away from that. So what are the real issues, and how can I have my diet and my planet too?

A recent article, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, in the New York Times sheds some interesting light on the issue.

There’s some pretty good research by the United Nations and University of Chicago that links eating meat to excess waste methane, a potent greenhouse gas. For animals raised on grain in factory farms, standing knee deep in manure, with giant waste lagoons belching methane, that’s certainly the case. But a traditional grower who grazes their cattle, sheep, turkeys and other livestock on grass over free ranges can have minimal waste generation. Manure is dropped as it’s made in the field to fertilize the pasture and grow more grass. The methane and CO2 are broken down in the soil, not belched into the atmosphere. It also eliminates the need for petroleum based fertilizers, which create enormous waste and greenhouse gasses.

By contrast, soy grown on cleared rainforest in Brazil create enormous damage to forests, watersheds and local diversity. These factory crops are shipped all over the world, wasting more resources and spewing more CO2. A soyburger from Brazil can generate more waste and impact than a beefburger from a local farm.

Here the vegetarians need to be aware. Brazilian soy, for example, grown with pesticides and fertilizers on cut rainforest is very common in the tofu and soymilk sold in our stores.

Smaller, traditional farms and ranches in the keep their animals outdoors grazing on pasture and use less machinery. They also use less soy and tend to grow their own feed crops, so avoid the waste for long distance transport and the waste of deforestation.

While wet rice fields produce nearly a third of human produced methane, small, traditional, animal farming minimizes greenhouse gas waste and can even benefit the environment. North Dakota State University researchers have found that properly timed cattle grazing can increase vegetation by as much as 45 percent. Other studies show that pasture and grassland areas used for livestock reduce global warming by absorbing and holding CO2. Converting croplands - like corn grown for cattle- to pasture reduces erosion, and captures significant amounts of carbon. Animal grazing also reduces the need for the fertilizers and fuel used by farm machinery in crop cultivation and compared to cropland, perennial pastures used for grazing can conserve topsoil and stop erosion by 80 percent which also improves water quality.

So it’s not so simple as meat or veggies. Recent research in Sweden shows that, depending on how and where a food is produced has a lot to do with its environmental impact. And at least half of the impact from agriculture comes from processing, transportation, storage, retailing and food preparation. Potato chips, for example, create packaging waste, consume energy to produce, ship and so forth., Local foods, minimally processed, and in season like those available at farmers’ markets and backyard gardens, are generally the most environmentally friendly.

About half of the food produced in the United States is thrown away, according to University of Arizona research. Each of us can reduce waste, energy use and personal global warming impact simply by careful food shopping, storage and use.

None of us, vegan or omnivore, can entirely avoid an impact in our food choices. But we can reduce our impact through our food choices. It takes more resources to produce meat and dairy than, say, fresh locally grown carrots, so it makes sense to go easy on them. And we can all lower our impact by avoiding processed foods and food from factory farms; reducing food waste; and buying local and in season. My motto is: Don’t Eat That if You Don’t Know Where It Came From!