According to BBC the impact of the production of beef on the environment is 10 times that of any other livestock. Beef has become such an engrained part of our american culture, is it possible to unroot it? Americans and the general people are frighteningly unaware of the impact of meat on the environment, particularly how the methane produced by cows contributes to the growing amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. As agricultural corporations fund many environmental awareness companies, information about the meat industries impact is softened. Taking steps towards limiting our beef consumption seems important to our environment. How can people, particularly Americans, decide whether abstaining from beef is a decision they can and would like to make if they don't have access to information about beef's impact on the environment? Information must be made more accessible, particularly when it comes to beef and meats in general. I for one, will be attempting to limit my beef consumption to once a week.

Alessandra, I agree wholeheartedly that Americans need to more easily accessible information about what we eat, particularly meat. Beef is remarkably popular in our country, since the fast food restaurant industry has made eating burgers particularly appealing for people with not very much money to spend on food. Unfortunately, foods like vegetables are more expensive than beef despite the tremendous discrepancy in their environmental impacts. In feeding and providing water for the cows, slaughtering them, storing them and transporting them, which involves burning fossil fuels, beef has a significantly detrimental effect on the environment. I believe that if Americans knew just how bad beef was for our world, at least some would chose to eat beef less frequently. More information about how to cook well rounded meals as a vegetarian could also be helpful in persuading people to eat less meat—beef in particular.

Alessandra and Olivia, I agree 100% with both of you. A study done at Harvard University linked eating red meat to early mortality rates (out of 120,000+ people) and that: “Every extra daily serving of unprocessed red meat (steak, hamburger, pork, etc.) increased the risk of dying prematurely by 13%. Processed red meat (hot dogs, sausage, bacon, and the like) upped the risk by 20%.” These numbers seem very daunting and scary. The Dr.'s idea, use the mediterranean diet and “Eat fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds every day; they should make up the lion’s share of foods.” This will be healthier and make you live longer.  (http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/stud … 1203134490)

Wow Alessandra, what an enlightening post. This really opened my eyes to the impact of beef production on the environment. As someone who just at a cheeseburger, I didn't environmental effects that the beef i was eating had on our ecosystem. I think that cutting down on beef consumption in America could possibly be the hardest thing to do. First of all, American take their civil liberties very seriously, so if someone told (the government) them they could not eat beef, there would be riots. Also, it would be are to propose government projects or initiatives in order to cut beef production. Maybe the best way would create policy or invent some way of producing “clean beef” that limits the amount of pollution on the environment.