By BRIGHAM CONLINLos Alamos High SchoolStudent
Personally, I really love meat. I dont care if it is beef, chicken, fish, really any kind I like it.
I will eat any meat without a second thought about where it came from or how it is for my health. Up until recently, I did not even consider the environmental effects of raising the animals that produce the meat.
Despite my enjoyment of meat, I was never informed of the large emissions of gases caused by the raising and maturing of animals. These gases include carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane. They heat the worlds climate and are a large reason for global warming.
Our planet is in a very unhealthy state and is only going downhill. We need a change before we destroy our planet. There isnt one solution to global warming, but there are ways where normal people can cut back on their carbon emissions. One of the ways most can cut down on is their food. You wouldnt think that food produces many greenhouse gasses, but the agricultural output is 9 percent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in America and for the average American.
Nine percent doesnt sound like a huge amount, but if you could take away a tenth of all the greenhouse gasses global warming would be slowed. So what difference can individuals make? About 10-30 percent of a households carbon footprint is created from food. Carbon Footprint Factsheet We can shorten our individual emissions by about 10 percent by cutting out all beef consumption.
If we were to cut down on our carbon footprint, the world would be in a much healthier state. There would be fewer natural disasters, our forests could return easier, and the sea levels would return to what they should be. Luckily for us, there is a way we can do that. Companies have created an alternative to meat. They make plant-based meals that taste almost exactly like real meat of all types from burger patties to meatballs.
If people would change to eating mostly plant-based meals their individual carbon footprint would greatly lessen. Also, if people eat a plant-based diet you cut out the middleman of animals, instead of having to grow plants for animals to make more food you can simply just grow plants for yourself.
Now, I am sure you are thinking, oh great, more awful vegan meat. And I would agree with you, I have tried vegan burgers, they dont taste good. But companies, like Impossible Foods, now have made much more realistic alternative meat. While the plant-based meals are mostly vegan these companies care more about making their food as close to real meat as possible. Not only does their food taste the same as real meat, but it also looks like, smells like, even has the same texture of real meat. In fact, they have made it sound the same when you slap a piece of it down on your grill. You still get the satisfying sizzle of a fresh piece of meat!
Not only do they make it the same in taste, smell, sound, and texture, they also are healthier for you to eat. The nutrition of normal meat is all there but are free of the animal hormones, antibiotics, and contaminants (ImpossibleFoods). Basically you get rid of all the gross bacteria and things that can cause you sickness if you eat meat. In fact, their meat is so clean you could eat it raw safely, though it probably doesnt taste good that way. Plus, they hand-pick all of their ingredients so the processing of normal food has been cut down as well.
Our planet really needs a boost. When we look around all we hear is how bad our planet is getting, and that the attempts to change arent good enough. People are too scared or too lazy to try to make a difference. And its understandable. But the consequences of taking no action will be so much worse than trying something. If more people would switch to plant-based meals we can make a difference. We can save our planet. It will take work, and yes, it will take more than changing our eating habits, but it is a start.
So why not switch now? It will be better for you and the environment. You will be able to feel like you arent polluting our home. Even if you dont make a full switch and instead eat real meat some of the time and plant-based food the other times you can still make an impact.
There are other options if you dont enjoy Impossible Foods like Beyond Meat and multiple others. You can find plant-based meat in stores all over, from Burger King and Carls Jr. to many, if not most, grocery stores in the United States.
Our planet needs us to help it so we can continue prospering and we can help it by cutting down our greenhouse gas emissions. It is an easy switch to plant-based meat, it is healthier, cleaner, and in the long run, it will even be cheaper. Switch now, and help save our planet.
Read the original post:
Letter To The Editor: Alternative Foods = Better Environment - Los Alamos Daily Post
