Eating less Meat is one of the best things you can do to help the Planet
It’s 2019. A new year, a new you. Maybe. While it’s a common tradition to set a new year’s resolution, a lot of people I know either don’t bother with it or end up breaking it within the first few days.
However, if you’re actually still in the process of deciding what you can do to make a difference in 2019, then let me give you a hand. It’s a lot easier than it sounds and has the potential to make a real positive impact on the planet – eat less meat!
I’m not preaching about vegetarianism or veganism at all, that’s completely your choice, but if you just start eating less of it at the very least then you’d not only be doing the lives of animals a favour, but also the planet as a whole. How does this actually work though? Well, let me explain.
Scientists have warned multiple times that the meat industry is the biggest contributor to harming the environment. Industrialised agriculture is killing the planet and its inhabitants, all for the sake of mostly beef and pork.
Rainforests are being cleared to make room for cattle, taking away its natural occupants with it and leaving no time for them to naturally recover from the devastation. More and more animals are becoming extinct way before their time because of humans. Also, meat rearing practices lead to pollution which is causing damage to rivers and the sea, bad news for our aquatic friends.
Cows and fertiliser also let off a lot of methane gas, which is a large contributor to climate change, and while climate change is natural, the speed we’ve accelerated it to is far too fast! It’s actually believed that the amount of emissions caused by the meat industry matches the damage caused by all cars, trains and planes in the world.
Not everyone seems to be willing to take this seriously though, and it’s too easy to think that you as an individual changing your lifestyle makes hardly any difference. I also tend to find there’ can be some entitlement when it comes to eating meat, with people saying “it’s only natural” and “if we weren’t meant to eat it, then we wouldn’t be able to” or whatever.
Speaking from a scientific viewpoint, here’s my way of seeing it. I’m not entirely convinced that mother nature intended for us to eat too much meat in the first place. Our teeth have a lot more in common with a lot of herbivorous animals than they do with carnivores, and the very fact we have to cook it first is a little suspicious. No other animal on the earth that eats meat needs to do that.
…Not to sound like a preaching vegan or anything though. I know what it’s like to be preached at by a militant human herbivore and it’s beyond annoying! However, I also know what it’s like to be preached to by militant meat-eater too, so it can go both ways.
Hopefully this insight has given you something to think about. If you think you can successfully cut down your meat intake then kudos to you. If enough people were to do this, it would make a difference for the better.
No worries if you’re not keen though, just remember to be respectful of other people’s choices! What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments, and please try not to argue too much.
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