by Josh Colton
I grew up in a family that loved their porterhouse steaks and cigars. 20 years ago, it would have been hard to imagine me being a vegetarian. But I gradually came to follow a “plant-based” diet through the influence of two friends. One is a physician who is vegetarian for health reasons and recommends to his patients the book and video Forks Over Knives. The other is vegetarian for environmental reasons, and that was the argument that swayed me.
It used to be that you had to convince people that climate change was happening. But with the hottest year on record; waters off Florida 100 degrees; and ever-increasing fires, storms, and flooding, we have moved beyond that discussion. Climate change is real.
Raising livestock for consumption creates more greenhouse gases than all cars and trucks in the world. Americans eat more red meat than any other society, and the biomass of cattle required to satisfy our dietary habits now weigh 10 times as much as all wild mammals combined. Pollution from livestock and the fertilizers used to grow feed crops pollute our air and poison our waterways; since 1970 freshwater species have declined by over 80 percent. The largest driver of Amazon deforestation is meat production and cattle grazing.
When I became convinced we should adopt a vegetarian diet, I thought my kids would be resistant to the change. But they consider themselves athletes and with gusto adopted a plant based diet after watching the movie The Game Changers. Produced by James Cameron and featuring numerous elite athletes like tennis pro Novak Djokovic, Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, and world-record-holding strongman Patrik Baboumian, plus Jackie Chan and Arnold Schwarzenegger, the film takes on the myth that eating meat always improves our strength and health. It interviews leading physicians and cites research from well-regarded scientists to argue the best diet for performance is, in fact, a plant-based one. It has a great soundtrack and a lot of funny vignettes, like strongman Patrik Baboumian responding to the question “How can you be as strong as an ox and not eat meat?” with the response “Have you ever seen an ox eat meat?”
Throughout the process of shifting to a plant-based diet, it has been interesting to see how my ideas about meat production have changed. My heart has been opened up to the moral contradictions we tolerate by eating factory-produced meat. I can no longer ignore their suffering. There is no ethical justification for treating animals like meat production machines raised with disregard of their welfare. An interesting book on this subject is Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows by Dr. Melanie Joy. It examines the psychological props that make it possible for us to adore some animals and eat others—which makes no logical sense.
I still eat meat occasionally. If invited to a dinner party, I eat what I am served, choosing non-meat options if plentiful or maybe a small portion of meat. When celebrating high holidays, my extended family still expects meat, and in those cases we buy meat that has been raised humanely and with as little environment impact as possible. Initially, I thought I would relish moments when I had an excuse to eat meat, but I have found my taste for meat has diminished.
It is too late to prevent climate change from transforming our planet and causing immense loss. The meat industry has paid marketing firms and lobbied the federal government to promote their products. We need to turn that around and persuade affluent people around the world to reduce their meat consumption. Most importantly, we should encourage our political leaders to take bold, ambitious climate action.
But there are also absolutely things you can do on a personal level to reduce the impacts of climate change. Project Draw Down is an organization which evaluates science-based climate technologies and practices. It notes that individual actions have the potential to reduce 25–30 percent of emissions needed to avoid dangerous climate change. That is a lot higher than most people realize!
Friends often ask what me they can do to reduce the impacts of climate change. I tell them one of the most effective ways is by making choices every time we eat.
Project Draw Down says the three most effective actions an individual can take are switching to electric energy, flying less, and adopting a plant-based diet. I am switching to electric and I eat a plant-based diet. But flying less—that’s hard. I still feel like a carbon criminal every time I fly off to visit family or friends. That’s my next challenge.
