American culture eats a lot of meat, but do we know how much were really eating? Hi my names Colin Young and I got to Bishop O'Dowd High school. In america it seems that everyones favorite food is meat weather its steak, pork, or chicken, however what many people don't know is how large of a carbon footprint is being cheated when doing so. think of it as a pyramid, on the bottom are produces (plants), followed by 1st level consumers (herbivores who eat the plants), and after them are secondary consumers (omnivores or carnivores that eat the 1st level consumers). Each time something is eaten the level goes up.
Ex: there is a really good looking flower growing from the ground, then Jeff the cow comes over and eats it. This makes Jeff the cow a 1st level consumer because he ate everything that the flower below him ate, however since flowers dont eat anything, Jeff only ate the flower and some sunlight converted to sugar. Now if Farmer Joe came around and ate Jeff this makes him a 2nd level consumer because he ate Jeff the cow and the flower Jeff ate. However if Jeff was ea ten by a lion then the lion would be the 2nd level consumer and if Farmer Joe ate the lion he would be a 3rd level consumer, and so on.
My question is how can we get humans to realize how much of a carbon footprint their leaving by eating certain meats. By eating one steak, your leaving a large carbon footprint because that cow ate alot of grass to make that steak.

ily

^^ i agree with you and your example is spot on. Many people think that they can have as much meat as they want and it won't effect much because you could for example, have a lot of fruits and vegetables and it doesn't do as much damage. California is a state where so many more people are aware of their impact but many people especially in the mid west are not aware and we need to figure out a way to spread the message.

There are many great ways to get people to realize how much of a carbon footprint they're leaving by eating meat. For example, documentary films like "Cowspiracy: The Sustainable Secret" shows the tragic side effects cattle have on the environment.  I remember going to San Francisco and seeing a lot of graffiti on buildings about Cowspiracy. This got me intrigued and the first thing I did when I got home was watch the film. This film enlightened in topics I hadn't even known existed. This left me examining my lifestyle in a new light. By spreading this film around, many can ponder over how much food they eat and change for the better.
Source: http://www.cowspiracy.com/