Last year, I wrote one of my first columns at Technician about my decision to become vegetarian upon entering college. Although I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience, I recognize that most students don’t have the inclination to eliminate cheeseburgers, bacon and chicken tenders from their lives.
That being said, Americans eat a lot of meat, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture projecting the average person to eat over 200 pounds in 2018. This is over twice the global average for 2015, which was only 91 pounds. Much of this has to do with how cheap meat is in the U.S., as well as Americans’ comparatively high incomes, but it has serious implications for the environment. Students should take note of how their food choices today could impact their futures for decades.
Climate change is an increasingly pressing issue in 2018, as underlined in the newest report by the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the leading scientific body in climate research. While electricity rightfully receives much of the attention from policy makers, agriculture makes up almost one fourth of CO2 emissions, and meat a disproportionate amount of these.
NC State students, and others their age, should be highly concerned about the climate, as we will likely be alive throughout most of the coming decades, when climate effects are expected to become most pronounced. Not only will we and our children be directly affected by the climate, but we will also be the ones in charge of how society reacts to sea level rise, droughts and extreme weather events. As such, it’s in our best interest to do everything we can to get emissions under control while we can still avoid the worst impacts.
The most recent IPCC report focused on the ambitious target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. It explains this goal’s substantially reduced risks of long-term damage to the climate, compared to the 2°C agreed to in the Paris climate agreement. It lays out a few general scenarios under which this target might be achieved, and in three out of four of these scenarios, global agricultural emissions must fall to zero by 2030.
Although technological progress will be a large part of any path to sustainability, we cannot afford to assume that it will save us from serious climate impacts. We have to change our behavior, and a simple yet powerful alteration for everyone to make would be reducing the amount of meat we consume.
It would be difficult and unpleasant for many people to completely remove meat from our diets. Hot dogs and hamburgers are two quintessentially American foods, and much of our culture is based around meat consumption. North Carolina and other southern states are especially noteworthy for our commitments to barbecue and fried chicken.
That being said, it’s not a tall order to eat only one meat-based meal per day, to set aside a few “no-meat” days every week or to simply reduce the portion sizes of meat-based foods. NC State is fortunate that all dining locations offer at least a few solid vegetarian options. These are also very clearly marked, so you can easily tell whether a dish contains meat or not.
NC State dining could reinforce this decision by having special all-vegan or all-vegetarian food events at dining halls, or by offering a lower proportion of meat-based foods. The university consistently prizes its sustainability achievements, and this would be an immensely impactful addition to that list.
Ultimately, however, it’s up to us as individuals to change our habits and encourage others to do the same. Greenhouse gas emissions continue because we continue to consume goods that produce CO2 and other harmful pollutants. Our generation will have to deal with the effects of these emissions. It’s up to us to act now or continue to delay increasingly necessary changes.
