For most of my life, up until recently, I’ve always eaten some form of red meat. Cheeseburgers, meat loaf, pasta and meat sauce, you name it. That said, in light of recent education, I’ve decided to stop eating red meat.
Let me be clear about my reasoning: I want to save the planet.
I know, I know. I just heard a few of you chuckle through the screen. That said, beef is leaving a huge carbon footprint on our earth. According to an article from Forbes, “…meat and dairy industries create 7.1 gigatons of greenhouses gases annually—that’s 14.5% of total man-made emissions. But beef is by far the biggest offender, generating 60 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of meat produced—that’s more than twice the emissions of the next most polluting food, lamb.”
Admittedly, I am not a scientist. However, based off what science shows and how our earth’s climate is reacting, it makes sense.
I’m not usually one for New Year’s resolutions, but this year I’ve decided to stop eating red meat. For me, this is beef and pork. I’ve never been a huge fan of pork to begin with, so this has been simple. I’ve also never been the type of person who craves a steak… ever. What I do crave? A cheeseburger. Oh what I would do for a cheeseburger from, well, anywhere. I haven’t had beef in a little over three months, and so far, I haven’t had any.
When I used to make marinara sauce with ground beef, I now use ground turkey. I cook a lot more chicken tacos (though I preferred them anyway), and I’m still on the hunt for the best fish taco recipe.
I also eat a decent amount of fish. I love sushi, sashimi and Japanese cuisine. I love cooking salmon at home and have a few decent recipes under my belt.
While my journey of cutting out beef has been difficult, I’m getting better each day. I haven’t caved yet, but gosh do I want a cheeseburger. Portobello steaks and burgers do make an excellent substitution, though.
I’ve even started drinking less dairy milk and have rotated to oat milk and almond milk. Currently, I think I prefer oat to almond, but I’m still figuring that out. I’m taking it one day at a time.
If you’re thinking about lessening the amount of beef you consume to help reduce carbon emissions, I challenge you to join me on this journey.