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Why I Decided to Stop Eating Beef (And No, This Isn’t a Vegan Rant)

I love animals. So much so that my husband and I have a dog and 4 cats. (All rescues.) But that’s not why I decided to stop eating beef.

Because even though I love animals, I also love a really good steak.

So why then?

Climate change.

With all of the dire news coming out every day now about the environment, I can’t in good conscience say that I support protecting the environment without backing up my words with action.

Yes, I’ve taken other small steps already to show my support. I’ve made donations to various environmental NGOs, watch groups and causes. I mostly use my S’well water bottle instead of buying disposable plastic bottles. And I’ve even purchased re-usable make-up remover pads on Amazon. (They are actually pretty amazing. I’ll be doing an entire post about sustainable beauty products soon.)

So why am I treating my decision to give up beef differently? Why am I writing an entire post about it? There are two reasons really.

Reason #1 I’ve Decided to Stop Eating Beef

My number one reason for giving up beef is that it’s going to be hard. It’s like when you give something up for Lent. You want it to be challenging, otherwise, what’s the point?

That’s how I feel about what we need to do to fix the monumental problem of climate change. We need to start making changes that might be annoying, or even challenging and painful but are necessary if we want to save our planet.

(Do I sound alarmist? Well, that’s ok because quite frankly, I think we all need to be f*cking alarmed at this point.)

I was a vegetarian for 10 years, starting when I was in college. I had never really liked red meat before that but when I reintroduced animal protein into my diet, I tasted a good steak for the first time and a light bulb went off. “Ohhhh,” I thought. “This is what everyone was talking about when they tell me why they love beef. I totally get it now.”

So now, after almost two decades of eating a lot of really good red meat, it’s going to suck to give it up. But I’m doing this for something bigger than me.

Reason #2 I’ve Decided to Stop Eating Beef

Did you know that worldwide, agriculture accounts for between 14.5 and 18% of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions? And most of this number is due to cattle breeding and the industrial farming of animals. (To put this in perspective, 18% is more than the entire transportation sector.)

Livestock also uses 30% of the earth’s entire land surface (including land used to grow their feed). The need for this land is a major reason for deforestation, particularly in the Amazon. (And I’m sure many of you have seen the reports about the unprecedented burning of the Amazon forest right now.)

I know that I’m only one person and my actions alone won’t make an impact. But collectively, we have power. So if many of us started to forego eating red meat (or ate much less of it) and became more discerning about where we buy our beef from, we could have a bigger impact on the beef industry and in turn the environment.

What You Can Do If You Don’t want to Give up Beef

Look, I’m not trying to preach here or tell you what to do. Everyone has to make their own choices and it would be completely unrealistic to tell everyone to just stop eating beef. I know that’s not going to happen.

But I do want to do what I can to inform people of the problem and make sure you know that you have choices. And to remember that all of our choices have an impact.

So, if you aren’t ready to take the drastic measure of giving up all red meat, but want to start doing something, there are still many ways you can help support the fight against climate change.

Here are some suggestions:

Cut back the amount of red meat you eat to once or twice a week
Only buy red meat from local, sustainable farms with pasture-raised animals
Give up hamburgers but still allow yourself the occasional steak
Learn to start cooking with the entire animal. Buy a different cut of the cow than you normally do.
Donate to an environmental cause every time you eat red meat
Try the ‘flexitarian’ diet that many scientists are recommending to help combat global warming
Educate yourself on other ways you can reduce your personal carbon footprint
Start using more sustainable products like reusable bags and water bottles.
Support renewable energy sources

How Will You Help the Environment?

The bottom line is there are many ways that we as individuals can do our part to help the environment and prevent drastic climate change.

For me, that means giving up beef.

For you, it could be something different.

My only hope is that we all recognize there is a MAJOR problem on our hands. I know this can be challenging since the scale and enormity of the problem almost makes it easier to ignore. But our planet is giving us many signals right now that things aren’t right. The time to act is now.

If you are interested in supporting NGOs and charities that are at the front line of climate change, here are a few to consider:

Finally, I’ll leave you with a quote from Albert Einstein, whose brilliance and insight we should heed, particularly now.

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.”

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On August 25, 2019 • By Meredith

About Meredith

Merry Lerner is an Emmy Award Winning TV Showrunner and Executive Producer with a passion for sharing travel, wellness, and lifestyle tips. She is a certified yoga teacher and graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition health coaching program.