I know that it’s overwhelming for many people to track their food choices, especially if they’re tracking the environmental footprint of their diets as well. However, I’ve found that over the years of having to make constant decisions about what I eat, that it’s actually easy to follow a sustainable system. However, before I delve into that, I need to address something first:

Comparing food items in terms of harm to the environment, animal products such as beef, chicken and pork, are considered to be the most corrosive in terms of their environmental impact. Ruminants such as cows produce copious amounts of methane that is emitted in the air from their feces. Methane is also a much more effective heat trapping gas than carbon dioxide (actually 30 times more effective). In addition, the food that is produced in order to feed the animals, which usually consists of maize, grain and soya, account for a tremendous amount of GHG release as well. Let’s not forget the GHG that is emitted from operating concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and the slaughterhouses and abattoirs where the animals unfortunately end up in before being packaged and sold to retail stores and restaurants.

As you can tell, it’s a process—a large one for that matter. Every step in this long and complicated chain plays a role in harming the environment in one way or another. Whether that is methane that is produced by cows, or waste lagoons that are dug up by CAFOs, there’s always something that is at stake. Land use and water use also play important factors in the production of animal products. In general, it takes around 5,000-20,000 liters of water to produce 1kg of beef. Let that number just sink in for a moment… In this uphill battle between demand and productivity, we end up in a crossroads. How can we meet the demand of a hungry world without having to completely destroy it?

Well, unfortunately, this is considered to be a difficult task. You see, the demand for animal products is a big part of many cultures. And with an ever-growing population, it seems as if this trend of having meat on our plates won’t diminish any time soon. Many people believe that it’s their right to have meat—a sign of wealth and social prominence in some parts of the world—or just a habitual act of monotonous eating in other parts. Wherever we go, there’s always someone that wants to eat this sacred protein. Adding on to this, the magnanimity of large-scale animal production plays a critical role in providing food to populations all around the world, as well as providing a notion of normativity that makes it fine to eat meat. However, the deeply rooted problems that are caused from our demand is lurking in the background. Whether that is the moral conflictions of eating abused and exploited cheap meat, the health repercussions of such a diet or the obvious destruction of the environment, this process has been rooted deeply into the minds and fabrics of individuals and society alike.

The way I look at this issue is to first ask ourselves if we actually need to eat so much meat in the first place. We know that we can get our protein from plant-based sources such chickpeas, beans, lentils and tofu. We also know that we don’t need Vitamin B12 from meat since it’s supplemented into the animals’ diets (this usually happens on factory farms). Tons of vegan alternative options are fortified with Vitamin B12 such as nutritional yeast, nut milks and soy-based products. We can get all of our nutrients on a plant-based diet without any issues. Careful understanding of our physiology and our body’s needs can take us a long way. The better we educate ourselves on food and nutrition, the more likely we are to make better food choices.

A lot of times when people buy cheap meat, the idea of having to think about what the animal might have looked like before, or the conditions that it was raised in, slips through the crevices of our minds. We don’t ask these questions openly because the industry itself doesn’t discuss it. Although I’ve never personally been to a slaughterhouse or a CAFO, I’d love to visit and see for myself whether the horrible pictures and videos that are plastered all over the internet are true. In the case for some, especially those that can afford it, buying local grass-fed meat could be an answer towards limiting their environmental footprint and a moral gateway in terms of animal welfare. Grass-fed meat tends to be much higher quality than its cheaper competitor and also acts on an idea known as regenerative agriculture. The manure that cattle produce acts as a natural fertilizer for the soil, thus enabling it to be more efficient at restoring soil microbial diversity, make the land more resilient to floods and droughts and more nutrient packed as well.

However, even things like grass-fed farms don’t escape the reality that food production at such large scales is harmful to the environment. If everyone ditched cheap meat and started to eat grass-fed instead, we would probably have to cut down a lot of forest land and wildland in order to accommodate extra numbers. In addition, grass-fed cows produce more methane than their grain-fed counterparts. As such, these numbers would naturally exacerbate the global methane production if humanity began the shift. Such thinking can never become feasible with the amount of demand that is currently circulating

*The debate on grass-fed vs feedlot fed beef goes beyond what I wrote about in this article. I’ve linked several articles about this debate*

So what can we do instead? Well, we have to come to terms that eating meat is not the end-all-be-all of a perfect diet, but rather we have to diversify our diets in order to accommodate the current production climate. We are meant to understand that the current impacts that our food choices have today will trickle down to the following generations. We have to understand that our individual food choices matter in the grand scheme of things because as a united collective, we can shift our understanding of food choices from an “ego”-logical perspective to that of an ecological one.

What does this mean then? First, be conscientious of what you eat and how much you eat as well. Many times we would buy cheap, calorically dense meals that will keep us full throughout the day but that are invariably harmful to our health and the environment. Instead, we can create simple, effective yet healthy meals that don’t take a lot of time and that are much better for the environment. In addition, partaking in things like meatless Monday’s or Veganuary can definitely create an impact around the world. You won’t die if you don’t have a steak, but fortunately, you might just spare a cow’s life by doing so. Adding more fruits and vegetables to our diets is key. Whatever anyone may say, fruits provide amazing vitamins and benefits. People who are cautious of fruits will yell “fructose”, but I personally don’t think that I’ve known anyone who got heart disease or diabetes from eating fruits. Vegetables are an amazing source of vitamins and fiber, and they’re packed with macronutrients as well. What I always do with my meals is have a portion that is dedicated to proteins, which could consist of beans, lentils, chickpeas etc. A portion of green vegetables for my fibers. This could be things like broccoli, spinach, asparagus or even collared greens in a salad bowl. And finally, my carbohydrates of choice is either rice, pasta or potatoes, depending on what the overall dish is and what I’m feeling on that day. Make sure to also incorporate grains, nuts and seeds in your diet for a boost in minerals and Omegas.

It’s always good to buy locally fresh and organic, as such options are sourced from nearby farms and don’t cover large distances to reach your plates. Eating seasonally as well is a great game changer. Try to learn when certain fruits and vegetables are in season and adjust your eating patterns as such. For instance, having watermelons in the summer and oranges in the winter. This is probably one of the simpler ways of reducing your footprint, as you can switch between food items depending on local availability. If you know that the oranges in the store had to travel a long way to get to you, it’s best if you leave them on the shelves instead.

I’m definitely going to make more articles discussing this exact topic because I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface. It’s important to educate ourselves on the how’s and why’s of our food choices. The more aware we become, the more we can help out. People might say things like ‘oh, buying local and organic food is expensive’ or ‘I can’t eat beans and peas I need my beef and chicken’. To these claims this is what I have to say; budgeting your spending on food is not a difficult task and we definitely let our guards down whenever we see snacks, when we go out for drinks, or when we just decide to have takeaway instead. Even though spending money on food seems like a hassle, and for some, it seems like a lot, the fact of the matter is, there’s always room for improvement. I personally don’t drink alcohol and also don’t do many takeaways. The money I save alone on not drinking is a tremendous return on investment. I don’t get hungover and I don’t go broke. And on top of that, I can invest in my health by choosing foods that are high quality and that are healthy for me. So at the end of the day, I’m doing my fair share. However, there’s always room for improvement, and constant education and research will only get us closer to our goals of becoming more environmentally sustainable.

So the takeaway (excuse the pun) of this article would be to stay on top of things. The next time you want to do your groceries, think twice about where your food came from and whether or not it’s worth the money. Will it improve your health or abate it? And finally, did an animal or the Earth have to endure for your food to land on your plate? Did it have to cross an ocean on a container ship, did it live in a CAFO, or was it produced on a farm not far from where you live? Ask these questions before you make a purchase, and you might just be surprised how little you know your food.