Vegetarianism: the key to sustainable living?
I’m way behind the curve on this one, but the article in question isn’t going to get any newer, and I have to make my first real post sometime. The NYT article “Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler” suggests that reducing our meat consumption may be a surprisingly effective way to protect the environment.
- Almost a third of Earth’s ice-free land is somehow involved in livestock production.
- Livestock production creates nearly a fifth of all those greenhouse gases you’ve been hearing about.
- In other words, cows hurt the planet even more than cars.
- Quote: “if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius.”
Unlike oil–which is necessary to our daily lives, at least until alternative energy sources become widespread–meat isn’t really something we need. Personally, I don’t think I could ever be a vegetarian, let alone a vegan. But could I give up greasy hamburgers and just treat myself to steak on special occasions? Yeah, I think so. (Really special occasions, of course, would get filet mignon.)
I’m not particularly wealthy by American standards, but even so, I’ve grown up in the world of Wal-Mart and high-speed Internet, where almost everything I might happen to want is available at a moment’s notice, at very little cost. (Music, anyone?) And I’m sure many of my generation could say the same. But at some point, we Americans will have to assume our responsibilities as global citizens, and realize that behind our instant gratification, there are deeper costs to the environment and (in many cases) the developing world.
It’s the classic economic dilemma: finite resources, infinite desires. And it’s about time we started scaling back our desires to match the resources available, rather than taking more than we can afford in the long run to produce all the things we want right now.
