Mass meat production is contributing to climate change

A  United Nations (UN) report titled the Global Methane Assessment, released on 9 August 2021, shows that methane gas production – caused by mass meat production – is rising rapidly. This is causing the already suffering planet to deteriorate even more. 

According to the report global citizens must reduce their environmental impact by altering their lifestyles and dietary choices to be more sustainable. Ways to do this are by obtaining a vegan, vegetarian, or pescatarian lifestyle, since these diets reduce the need for livestock and mass meat production. 

These are all lifestyles where either meat and dairy products are excluded from a person’s diets completely, or moderately. Followers of these diets often have the philosophy that they can impact the mass production of methane gas, even though their influence may be miniscule. 

Methane is a very harmful greenhouse gas, produced when living animals manure and decompose. Livestock agriculture is a big source of methane, and according to the UN, despite Covid-19 lockdowns, methane gas levels are continuing to rise.

The UN report indicates that methane gas is second in line for being the most abundant greenhouse gas present in the atmosphere. 

Methane gas outlet is mostly caused by human-related sources such as animal agriculture-based industries. In its current state, methane makes up about half of the greenhouse gas emissions produced by livestock. The biggest agriculture-based contributor is the beef and dairy industry. 

The 2019 Refinement to the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, report found that cattle actually produce more greenhouse gases than the whole transportation sector combined, through their digestion and waste.

The methane gas produced by cattle was found to be more destructive to the environment than the carbon dioxide produced by motor vehicles. 

More research from the UN report has shown that the meat and dairy industry make up about 75% of global farmland. This means that livestock and mass meat production is not only a massive contributor to climate change and global warming, but also one of the reasons for deforestation, mass extinction of wildlife and resource consumption. 

By avoiding or lowering a person’s meat and dairy consumption, they can help to lower the carbon footprint of this industry. According to Annika Möller, a dietician in Potchefstroom, there are several ways to do so, including becoming vegan, vegetarian, or even pescetarian.

For a long time, these lifestyles have either been frowned upon, or praised by different communities. But, as of right now, veganism seems like one of the best options people can try to help the planet, even though it is considered a difficult lifestyle to maintain. 

“A vegan diet is naturally very low in cholesterol and saturated fats,” said Möller. She further stated that following a vegan lifestyle can prevent other health issues, like obesity and heart disease.

Möller indicated that veganism could lead to a person’s body having serious nutrient deficiencies, if not followed correctly. A vegan must assure that they supplement meat and dairy products with plant based foods still filled with the nutrition the human body needs. 

Although veganism has its challenges, the impact it has on the environment will help climate change drastically. A vegan lifestyle followed by more people will allow for the mass production of meat and dairy to minimisze, in turn, lessening the methane gasses being emitted currently. 

Furthermore, North-West University (NWU) student and pescetarian, Danicke du Plessis (20), said that a pescetarian lifestyle not only benefits the environment, since it reduces mass meat production, but that also “benefits your own health.” 

Another NWU student, Nikki Lamprecht (22), said “veganism has become my new lifestyle.” Lamprecht mentioned that switching to a vegan diet was difficult at the beginning since she still wanted to make sure that she provided her body with the nutrients it needed to survive.

Lamprecht motivates others to join her quest in being vegan and becoming more environmentally aware, “Today all these things motivate me to eat plant-based.” – Anchen Coetzee, Chanté du Plessis, Stacey Swanepoel, Vasti van Staden