What did you learn about dietary choices from using the footprint calculator? Now imagine that you could translate what you learned into an effective societal policy on food- what would it be? And how would this policy effect the need to alleviate world hunger?
925 million people on earth do not have enough to eat according to the FAO [Food and Agricultural Organization]. That's almost 1 in 7 inhabitants of our planet!
Food & Hunger >
Plants > meats
From the footprint calculator I learned how much of an impact you really make when you eat a lot of meat such as beef or pork. I rarely eat meat but my meat intake could still be lower. I also eat a lot of fruits and vegetables that are locally grown. I am certain that this lowers my carbon footprint however I am not satisfied and believe I could eat more organically and lessen my meat intake to about once a week. When I do eat meat it is usually chicken or turkey but I could definitely eat more plant based proteins. If I could translate what I learned into how the society eats we would raise barely any beef cows and it would decrease the amount of methane that is released.
Avery, 15
North Carolina
No doubt, meat as it is currently produced is absolutely horrendous for the environment. Of course, because the goverment will never force vegetarianism on everybody and most just say "It's tasty," I'm looking ahead to cultured meats as a solution. When we can swab a cow's mouth and then grow enough meat from that to feed a country, I think meat will stop being such a huge deal.
I do not completely agree that the food we eat has a huge impact. The food is only about 17% of the average households CO2 emissions and the travel and home was much more in the percentage than the food. If we can make more sustainable houses and travel then that would more easily make a greater impact on our Earth. If we can carpool to school, take less flight, have better lighting and use different energy than gas to fuel and heat our house this would be better for our environment.
When calculating my carbon footprint, I was surprised at how my meat intake is drastically higher than the average person in America. I previously did not understand that this does actually make a stronger impact on the planet then I had realized. I think that this is something that I can reduce easily by eating less meat every week and encouraging my family to do so as well. Although meat consumption does not do as much damage to the planet as say, vehicle transportation, it is something that is not a necessity and eating less meat is an easy adjustment for many.