What’s the carbon footprint of your supper?

While we’re still in the midst of barbecue season consider this: a four-person family skipping steak once per week is, environmentally speaking, equivalent to taking your car off the road for three months. This is one of the findings of a new report on the environmental impact of meat and other foods, released last month by Environmental Working Group (EWG), a research organization based in the US. 

Weighing the environmental impact of food isn’t a common consideration when deciding what, and what not, to eat. More often it’s how healthy a food is or isn’t that helps us decide. The great thing about this new report, titled Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health, is that it combines the two: the health and environmental impacts of common foods.

In the report EWG analyzed the greenhouse gas emissions, environmental footprint and health impacts of 20 types of food – mostly animal and vegetable protein - and came up with a summary of best-to-worst which they have packaged into a helpful guide for choosing food that is healthier for you and the planet.

While red meat gets the worst environmental scores, you might be surprised by the company it keeps. Here are a few of the highlights:

• Of all the food analyzed, lamb, beef, cheese, pork and farmed salmon (in that order) generate the most greenhouse gases

• About 30 per cent of the meat consumed in the US is beef and it accounts for double the emissions of pork, four times the emissions of chicken.

• Cheese has the third poorest ranking on the list, sitting just above beef. Less dense cheeses (take less milk to produce) generate fewer greenhouse gasses.

• For beef and dairy it’s the animals’ methane emissions and the pollution from growing feed that contributes to such high greenhouse gas emissions. With salmon it’s feed production that gives it a poor ranking along with the fact that up to 44 per cent gets tossed in the garbage, mostly due to spoilage at the grocery store or at home.

• Plant-based protein like lentils, beans and nuts are considered “climate friendly,” nutritious and healthy.

• Environmental toxins are stored in animal flesh so the more animal protein you consume the more toxins you ingest. 

Also highlighted in the report are studies linking high red meat consumption to obesity, type-2 diabetes, a variety of cancers and heart disease. Other studies point to increased risk of cancer among those who consume processed meat. (The American Institute for Cancer research recommends that you not eat processed meat at all, including hot dogs and luncheon meat.)

What’s a meat eater to do with all of this information? Eat better meat and less of it. On average we consume double the amount of protein and only a fraction of the fruits and vegetables recommended by government health agencies. So there are many reasons to reduce. Look for naturally raised local meat, grass-fed beef, and organic eggs and dairy products. It’s more expensive but if you eat less overall it will be more affordable. 

View the full report