{"id":19745,"date":"2015-02-09T11:40:13","date_gmt":"2015-02-09T16:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?p=10258"},"modified":"2015-02-09T11:40:13","modified_gmt":"2015-02-09T16:40:13","slug":"could-eating-less-meat-save-planet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Eating Less Meat Help Save the Planet?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Climate change has been a hot topic <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2015\/01\/17\/science\/earth\/2014-was-hottest-year-on-record-surpassing-2010.html?action=click&amp;contentCollection=Politics&amp;module=RelatedCoverage&amp;region=Marginalia&amp;pgtype=article\" target=\"_blank\">in the news<\/a> lately. Weird weather patterns across the world\u2014like hurricanes in New York City, warm winters in typically\u00a0cold and snowy countries such as\u00a0Austria and Switzerland, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/weather\/2014\/03\/19\/global-climate-report-winter\/6606079\/\" target=\"_blank\">near-record snowfalls<\/a> in the UK\u2014are making it harder and harder to ignore.<\/p>\n<p>While individuals and environmental organizations have been taking action for a while, we have not always seen the same level of responsiveness by governmental agencies\u2014until now.<\/p>\n<p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture is about to release the latest\u00a0version of its\u00a0dietary guidelines, and as a response to the environmental challenges we&#8217;re facing, it\u00a0is considering <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/blogs\/wonkblog\/wp\/2015\/01\/07\/why-the-governments-new-dietary-guidelines-could-be-a-nightmare-for-the-meat-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\">changing the food pyramid<\/a> and its\u00a0dietary recommendations to help avert climate change.<\/p>\n<p>I was shocked (and very happy) when I saw this report. The USDA&#8217;s potential change to the food pyramid would\u00a0restrict the amount of meat recommended for consumption, not from a health perspective (although eating less meat <em>will<\/em> impact your health), but from an environmental one.<\/p>\n<p>Raising animals for meat production is one of the biggest factors of climate change. Meat production has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldwatch.org\/node\/6294\" target=\"_blank\">estimated<\/a> to be responsible for up to 51 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions. Livestock populations themselves are responsible for carbon dioxide\u00a0and methane gas emissions from their waste products.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The USDA&#8217;s potential change to the food pyramid would restrict the amount of meat recommended for consumption, not from a health perspective &#8230; but from an environmental one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>This is not new news. A 2006 United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization <a href=\"http:\/\/www.un.org\/apps\/news\/story.asp?newsID=20772#.VNUiFUJgpjR\" target=\"_blank\">study<\/a> noted that our diets and, specifically, the meat in them, cause more greenhouse gases\u2014carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and the like\u2014to spew into the atmosphere than either transportation or industry. The UN study also found that producing half a pound of hamburger for someone&#8217;s lunch releases as much greenhouse gas into the atmosphere as driving a 3,000-pound car nearly 10 miles.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s great to see that the American government is heeding these warnings and considering that one of the best ways to reduce climate change is to tell people to eat less meat. Eating less meat could significantly alter the future of the environment and provide myriad benefits for the health of this planet. Knowing this, I urge people to reduce their meat consumption or take the leap and go vegetarian or vegan. (One of the best moves that I have ever made was to follow\u00a0a vegan diet three years ago). There are many great programs and support systems, such as the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pcrm.org\/health\/diets\/kickstart\/kickstart-programs\/\" target=\"_blank\">21 day vegan kickstart program<\/a> from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, that can help you transition away from eating animal products.<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not the USDA ultimately changes the food pyramid, we can work on reducing (or eliminating) our meat consumption for the health of our planet.<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo courtesy of Flickr user\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/greenenergyfutures\/\" target=\"_blank\">greenenergyfutures<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u2014<\/p>\n<p><em>Michael Forman is a native of Bronx, New York, and has lived in New York City for almost his entire life. He\u00a0is the executive farm director of\u00a0<a title=\"Pure Love Organic Farm\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PureLoveOrganicFarms\" target=\"_blank\">Pure Love Organic Farms<\/a>, an organic, urban farm that\u00a0he and three other friends created in 2012 from a former garbage dump site. Michael also works as the North American account manager for\u00a0<a title=\"Totally Green\" href=\"http:\/\/www.feedtheorca.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Totally Green<\/a>\u00a0in the sustainable technologies field.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The USDA could be changing its guidelines for meat consumption\u2014for environmental reasons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":639,"featured_media":20094,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[742,130],"class_list":["post-19745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","tag-nutrition","tag-sustainability"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.0 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wanderlust<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The USDA could be changing its guidelines for meat consumption\u2014for environmental reasons\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"de_DE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The USDA could be changing its guidelines for meat consumption\u2014for environmental reasons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wanderlust\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/wanderlust\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-09T16:40:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"796\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Forman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Verfasst von\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Forman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Forman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eb8087d8f7703b36a3db00f6b221a386\"},\"headline\":\"Could Eating Less Meat Help Save the Planet?\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-09T16:40:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":550,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"nutrition\",\"sustainability\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/\",\"name\":\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-09T16:40:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"The USDA could be changing its guidelines for meat consumption\u2014for environmental reasons\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/02\\\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg\",\"width\":1404,\"height\":796},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/journal\\\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Could Eating Less Meat Help Save the Planet?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wanderlust\",\"description\":\"Your guidepost on the path towards a healthy &amp; inspired life. Find your true north.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Wanderlust\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/WL_Logo_Grey-05.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/01\\\/WL_Logo_Grey-05.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"Wanderlust\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/facebook.com\\\/wanderlust\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/wanderlustfest\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/wanderlustfest\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/wanderlustfestival\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.com\\\/wanderlustfest\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/wanderlustfestival\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eb8087d8f7703b36a3db00f6b221a386\",\"name\":\"Michael Forman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"de-DE\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/679db4bfa2caae97cc55d09d7528009531c4bf8c125263c9a1da18fdf39cd207?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/679db4bfa2caae97cc55d09d7528009531c4bf8c125263c9a1da18fdf39cd207?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/679db4bfa2caae97cc55d09d7528009531c4bf8c125263c9a1da18fdf39cd207?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Michael Forman\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/wanderlust.com\\\/de\\\/journal\\\/author\\\/michaelforman\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wanderlust","description":"The USDA could be changing its guidelines for meat consumption\u2014for environmental reasons","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/","og_locale":"de_DE","og_type":"article","og_description":"The USDA could be changing its guidelines for meat consumption\u2014for environmental reasons","og_url":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/","og_site_name":"Wanderlust","article_publisher":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/wanderlust","article_published_time":"2015-02-09T16:40:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1404,"height":796,"url":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael Forman","twitter_misc":{"Verfasst von":"Michael Forman","Gesch\u00e4tzte Lesezeit":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael Forman","@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eb8087d8f7703b36a3db00f6b221a386"},"headline":"Could Eating Less Meat Help Save the Planet?","datePublished":"2015-02-09T16:40:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/"},"wordCount":550,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg","keywords":["nutrition","sustainability"],"articleSection":["Culture"],"inLanguage":"de-DE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/","url":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/","name":"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-09T16:40:13+00:00","description":"The USDA could be changing its guidelines for meat consumption\u2014for environmental reasons","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"de-DE","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de-DE","@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/eat-meat-climate-change.jpg","width":1404,"height":796},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/journal\/could-eating-less-meat-save-planet\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Could Eating Less Meat Help Save the Planet?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/","name":"Wanderlust","description":"Your guidepost on the path towards a healthy &amp; inspired life. Find your true north.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"de-DE"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/#organization","name":"Wanderlust","url":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de-DE","@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WL_Logo_Grey-05.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/WL_Logo_Grey-05.png","width":1200,"height":1200,"caption":"Wanderlust"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/facebook.com\/wanderlust","https:\/\/x.com\/wanderlustfest","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wanderlustfest\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/wanderlustfestival","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/wanderlustfest","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/wanderlustfestival"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eb8087d8f7703b36a3db00f6b221a386","name":"Michael Forman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"de-DE","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/679db4bfa2caae97cc55d09d7528009531c4bf8c125263c9a1da18fdf39cd207?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/679db4bfa2caae97cc55d09d7528009531c4bf8c125263c9a1da18fdf39cd207?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/679db4bfa2caae97cc55d09d7528009531c4bf8c125263c9a1da18fdf39cd207?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"Michael Forman"},"url":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/journal\/author\/michaelforman\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/639"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlust.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}