Environmentalism has never been more en vogue, as it is considered the future of our society is to turn to “sustainable” options when it comes to consummation. However, because of economic reasons, both medical industry and consumer society often choose to skip information about the true health and environmental effects of what they have to propose in spite of proven facts. Out of the many aspects available to explore, today’s pick will be meat-eating. Enjoying a good steak with friends does not seem that big of a deal, right? Well, you will be surprised of what that good moment can actually do to your body: not only has it been proven that increasing the meat intake in healthy people (while still keeping the same amount of calories) has led to significant weight gain (Vergnaud AC. et al., 2010), but also it has been associated with colorectal cancer (Bernstein AM et al. 2015), due to the methionine content, a carcinogen amino acid present in cooked meat (Campos FG et al., 2005), type 2 diabetes because of the high fat content of meat (Pan A et al, 2011 and Diabetes UK, 2010), coronary heart disease and strokes (Micha R et al., 2010). What will you tell me then? “Look, all researches show proven facts about red meat’s disastrous effects, but there’s nothing there about lean and healthy meats such as chicken!”… I am sorry to bring it up but chicken is not as healthy as it seems: indeed, chicken not only has shown to be correlated to an increased body weight (Twito T et al., 2011), but also it has a high probability of contracting/transmitting the adenovirus-36 (Dhurandar NV, 2001), which is associated with obesity (Almgren M et al., 2012 and Dhurandar NV et al., 1997). “Come on, you just have to decrease the quantity”… Sure, but knowing that calorie restriction triggers binge-eating, I guess better solutions could be found (Pankevich DE, 2011). If only that was all… but unfortunately, meat eating has also a lot of environmental side effects that cannot be ignored. First of all, water consumption is the most flagrant: to produce as simple as 1 kilogram of beef, it requires a minimum of 15160 liters of water (GRACE Communication Foundation n, undated), while 1 kilogram of wheat requires 1350 liters (The Global Development Research Center, undated). Considering that on average, Europeans consume 65 kg of meat per year (Santini F et al, 2014). Think about how much water could be saved if this number was reduced by half. Moreover, if one thinks that around 40% of the grain produced worldwide is used to feed livestock instead of humans, it is awakening and makes one think twice about your consumption choices, especially if one thinks about how many people could be fed with that amount of grain, at a relatively cheap price (Cornell University, 1997). Those agricultural productions also release a lot of manure, which, by reaching water, eutrophicates rivers and lakes and causes the death of many species (World Resources Institute, undated). In addition, in the agricultural production locations, fossil energies are needed to maintain “essential” conditions, then for animal waste collection and treatment of fermentation, as well as for the transport of animals to slaughterhouses, for the slaughtering itself and then for the manufacture of the final products. This leads to serious damages to the environment as most of the products used contribute to greenhouse effects and damages the atmosphere (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, undated). The ethical side of livestock production is also important. No need for long descriptions; only pictures are enough to depict the living conditions of the animals which are raised for slaughter. Most of the animals are raised in crowded conditions and do not have a proper space to develop, they are fed with antibiotics and are slaughtered in inhuman conditions. In the end, I hope, I could convince you that meat-eating is not the best thing for your body and for the environment. Even though I would be glad if many of us would stop eating meat completely, good choices could start by decreasing your meat consumption. Thus, you could positively impact the environment and then take one step closer to what is true environmentalism. What is more, you could contribute to boycotting animal suffering, which is unneglectable. Gaëlle Thomas References:
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May 2019
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