The Meat Industries Secrets
If you have paid any attention within the last 20 years and beyond, you will have recognized that the world is literally falling apart at its seams. Of course, you could be one of those people that think the earth is flat and everything you read or watch on social media is true. While your head has presumably been stuck in the sand, the rest of the world has looked at the problems arising around us at an astounding rate and done… well, we have done nothing. Global warming has reached a point where there really is no coming back from. Human behavior alone causes significant problems concerning greenhouse gas emissions, human carbon footprint, pollution, and overpopulation. While there are countless things we can do as a society to decrease the threat upon our world, that is a different subject for a different day. Until then, let’s focus on something a little more tangible that you likely consume on a daily basis, meat.
Vegan/Vegetarian
If like me, you get these confused all the time, I will break them down for you. A Vegan diet excludes all meat and animal products. Anything that originates from an animal is not included in this diet. Because an egg came from a chicken, someone following a vegan diet will not consume it. The vegetarian diet follows the same structure but is a little looser in guidelines. Vegetarians will exclude meat, poultry, and seafood from their diet but consume dairy and egg.
Why?
People choose to partake in Vegan and Vegetarian diets for a variety of reasons including the animal cruelty that occurs within a meat industry, but the main reason is due to the impact that animals and meat production have on the environment. For example, according to Our World in Data, “Food accounts for over a quarter (26%) of global greenhouse emissions.” Between land used for livestock, crops, livestock and fish farms, packaging and transportation, food has a significant impact on the world around us. We have entered a period where we are noticing the environmental impacts of our seemingly normal behaviors. Deserts have more rain, and ice caps are disappearing. Soon land such as New York and California are at an extremely high risk of being underwater. Perhaps you have heard these startling facts or even had considered going vegan or vegetarian after watching that terrifying farming video in college. You know, the one that had animal cruelty warnings in the opening image. Here are a couple reasons why you should partake in some form of a plant-based diet.
What We Produce
Everyone goes on about eating locally and making sure the things we produce don’t travel that far. While eating locally and supporting small businesses are great, it really does not reduce the carbon footprint we all create. Instead, having less meat in your diet or partaking in a plant-based diet is always the way to go if you want to lessen your carbon footprint. To put it into perspective, “producing a kilogram of beef emits 60 kilograms of greenhouse gases. While peas emit just 1 kilogram per kg.” While this doesn’t seem like a lot, the average person’s carbon footprint is 16 tons. Reducing meat intake can significantly decrease the carbon footprint that each person creates. Awareness of the environmental impact is a great start. Implementing concepts such as meatless Mondays into your routine is also a great way to combat the environmental impacts humans have caused.
There are a lot of misconceptions about neutral environmental changes. You don’t have to become vegan or vegetarian to combat climate change. Implementing small changes into your lifestyle is a great way to start. Composting, riding public transportation, recycling, and eating less meat are great ways to positively impact the world.
Industry Standard…Or Not
Many companies claim to have upfront rules and regulations as well as standards they are supposed to live by. While some companies may still have their integrity intact, most companies lie and cheat to get to the top. The meat industry is no different. Instead of calling these locations meat industries is more than courteous, instead refer to them as what they are, slaughterhouses. Dying meat red to look fresher is the least horrifying thing that occurs in these locations. According to the North American Meat Institute, in 2017, the meat and poultry industry processed 9 billion chickens, 32.2 million cattle and calves, 121 million hogs, and 241.7 million turkeys. When we go to the grocery store, we often don’t see the animals’ faces that we were eating and never will. The reason is that industry lobbyists push to make documentation of activity conducted within their plant illegal. As a result, there is no way to hold slaughterhouses accountable for their actions towards animals. If your dog or cat was treated the way these cows are, you would be in prison for animal cruelty. But there is no accountability in the meat industry system, like many other industries and corporations, so no action can be taken to hold slaughterhouses accountable for overcrowding, consumption of growth hormones or steroids, and animal cruelty. There is documentation of what occurs in slaughterhouses, and I encourage you to watch them. Apart from those videos, people don’t regularly venture into a slaughterhouse to check and see how everyone is doing.
While the meat industry continues to have significant increases in consumption, there are other ways to change behavior and protect the environment. Meat substitutes are fantast methods for getting a full meal and feeling satisfied. Beyond Meat is a brand that has become increasingly popular with its plant-based alternative foods. Incorporating small changes provided by companies who are aware of the impacts the meat industry have can help both with consumption, carbon emissions, and awareness. Keeping these facts in mind the next time you go to a grocery store is the only way to combat the problems that occur inside meat industries. Consider a vegan or vegetarian diet and see if it is something that works for your body. Even if you can’t commit to a complete vegan or vegetarian diet, plant-based is a great place to start.
