Decline in U.S. Meat Consumption

After 70 years of steady incline, American meat consumption is on the decline. Considering we account for less than one twentieth of the world population yet have been responsible for one sixth of the world meat consumption (and therefore accompanying environmental implications), I think it is safe to say this is pretty good news.

Last week, Mark Bittman wrote a great piece about the swirl of discussions aiming to pinpoint reasons for the decline including: Growing exports making less meat available to Americans, ethanol and the rising cost of feed, federal government "waging war" on meat consumption, and the most optimistic reason (that I'm rooting for) conscious consumer decisions.

This week, Brent Kim put together an incredibly informative and thoughtful blog post about the USDA estimates that says everything I would say and more so I highly recommend reading heading over to the Center for a Livable Future blog and spending some time with his post (find it here).

Meatless Monday

A reader and friend alerted me to a great story from NPR about how folks are re-framing Meatless Monday to gain followers in the younger demographics who aren't necessarily thinking about their blood pressure and cholestoral. Read the article or listen to founder of Meatless Monday, Sid Lerner, talking with NPR here.

I know what you're thinking: "What does this have to do with Water Month here on JustSaying?" The answer is: a ton. From the article:

"One of the biggest advantages of cutting back on meat consumption is the reduction in the water demand," says environmentalist Peter Gleick of the Pacific Institute [and author of Bottled & Sold].

Gleick says people are shocked when they realize how much water it takes to grow the grain needed to feed cows to produce 1 ton of beef.

"It takes 140,000 bathtubs full of water — that's millions and millions of gallons," Gleick says. And it's not something people consider when they try to imagine their "water footprint."

Don't have a cow

Ahhh... the first Monday morning in the new year. Everyone is getting to their desks, catching up on emails, yawning, considering the work involved in some of those resolutions you made, and realizing that it may be easier to stick to an environmental resolution than a workout regimin... and here you are: Visiting your favorite blog for some ideas.

Kudos. You've come to the right place.

While I beleive in quitting "cold turkey" is the most successful method in certain departments (drugs, cigarettes, alcohol), I realize it is a little idealistic in the meat department. But the meat department is a great place to start. Perhaps the biggest bang-for-your-enviro-buck-resolution is in fact to go vegetarian, but we here at JustSaying aren't pushing for the full switch. Our suggestion: How about you simply: Don't have a cow today? Or any other Monday this year?

It's called Meatless Monday. Learn more here.