Alex Park on how declining US meat consumption is good for the climate: As Josh Harkinson noted this week, cows are the United States single biggest source of methane—a potent gas that has 105 times the heat-trapping ability of carbon dioxide. Thats one major reason why beefs greenhouse gas footprint is far higher than that of most other sources of protein, according to an EWG study. (Though its consumed at a fraction of the rate of beef or chicken, lamb is by far the most carbon intensive of the major meats, according to EWG, since the animals smaller body produces meat less efficiently but still produces a lot of methane.) And EWGs estimate of beefs impact may actually be on the conservative side: A study released this week found the greenhouse gases associated with beef to be even higher. So what should you eat instead of beef? One answer: chicken, which has a carbon footprint roughly a fifth the size of beefs. Happily, earlier this week, the National Chicken Council released new research showing that Americans are eating chicken in 17 percent more meals and snacks than they did in 2012. ...Chicken consumption has actually been rising steadily for decades. Red meat consumption, meanwhile, has steadily declined over the same period. -Erika
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 22:46:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015