Thread started: May 31 2008, 3:59 PM EDT
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Here is a TerraPass blog post about carbon footprint of food:
http://www.terrapass.com/blog/posts/cutting-the-carbon-from-your-diet
His conclusion is that an easy way to cut your carbon footprint is to eat less meat. I think that grass-fed meat is less energy-intensive than grain-fed (as one of the commenters points out), so the math is a little different if you're getting MiG beef. However, I tend to agree with his conclusion. Meat is a much less efficient form of calories - I've seen figures that estimate beef to be 125 times less efficient than grains. Put another way: an acre of land devoted to growing grains could feed 125 people; the same acre devoted to beef can feed one. With a global food crisis going on, that's pretty sobering.
I think you can achieve a happy medium by devoting your meat budget to buying only pastured meats. Because this meat is more expensive, you will eat it less often, thus improving your carbon footprint. The meat you eat will also be better quality, so you'll be healthier and it will taste better.
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RE: Cutting the Carbon from Your Diet
By: ,
May 31 2008, 4:06 PM EDT
Another take from the latest issue of Wired:
http://www.wired.com/science/planetearth/magazine/16-06/ff_heresies_03organics
Grass-fed cattle use less fossil fuel, but they have higher methane output (because they live longer and produce more methane per cow). IMHO, this is not a reason to eat grain-fed factory farm beef. The correct solution here is cheap, portable methane sequestration technology that MiG farms can use to reduce their emissions.
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