Many of us are concerned about “Climate Change”, or “Global Warming”, right (I know there are some people who do not believe that)? Are you contributing to reducing greenhouse gases? Things like using less energy, riding a bicycle as primary transportation method instead of a car or public transportation, or planting more trees in your backyard are some things we can do. Or maybe you have considered eating vegan because you want to support reducing greenhouse gases. My daughter chose to change to a vegan diet after joining Greta Thunberg’s Climate Strike in NYC. Although the exclusive vegan diet didn’t last that long, she has significantly reduced her meat consumption… I really wanted to support her own will and thought it was a great intention. But do you know how much it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions if everyone in the US became vegan?
As the 2018 US National Climate Assessment stated, the main cause of climate change is the greenhouse effect. Many greenhouse gases occur naturally in the atmosphere, however, human activity is increasing concentrations of some of the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, like CO2, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. They come from burning coal, oil and gas, cutting down forests, using fertilizers that contain nitrogen, fluorinated gases, and livestock farming.
According to the EPA (US Environmental Protection Agency), The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities in the United States is from burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation in 2019. See the chart below.
Now you see Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture sector is just 10% and half of it is coming from management of agricultural soils such as using synthetic fertilizers, the growth of nitrogen-fixing crops, the drainage of organic soils, and irrigation practices. Methane gas produced from Cattles’ digestive processes accounts for over a quarter of the Agriculture sector.
So, back to the first question: How much could greenhouse gas emissions be reduced if the entire US became vegan? It would only reduce 2.6 %.
But somehow, Bill Gates is chanting again, as he wants to be called as a savior, that everyone should eat “100% synthetic beef” as a way to fight climate change.
Do you know what is in those fake meats?
Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Coconut Oil, Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavors, 2% Or Less Of: Potato Protein, Methylcellulose, Yeast Extract, Cultured Dextrose, Food Starch Modified, Soy Leghemoglobin, Salt, Mixed Tocopherols (Antioxidant), Soy Protein Isolate, Vitamins and Minerals (Zinc Gluconate, Thiamine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B1), Niacin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Vitamin B12).
Water, Pea Protein*, Expeller Pressed Canola Oil, Refined Coconut Oil, Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Dried Yeast, Cocoa Butter, Methylcellulose, Contains 1% or Less: Potato Starch, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Beet Juice Color, Apple Extract, Pomegranate Concentrate, Sunflower Lecithin, Vinegar, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Vitamins and Minerals (zinc sulfate, niacinamide [vitamin B3], pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], cyanocobalamin [vitamin B12], calcium pantothenate)
As you can see, both are heavily processed, chemically induced products. On top of that, Impossible Burger uses Soy Leghemoglobin, which is genetically engineered heme, an iron-rich molecule found in meat and plants. The company uses this to make the burger “bleed” and taste like a real beef burger. This “genetic engineering on steroids,” which constructs new biological parts, devices and systems that do not exist in the natural world, was categorized as GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by FDA WITHOUT extended testing. By the way, the GRAS report on soy leghemoglobin has 526 pages!!! Do you think a product that requires a persuasive explanation with testing and research of that many pages is safe to consume???
Moreover, GHG from cattle are from those raised in concentrated animal feeding operations where they are fed an inappropriate diet of GMO grains. Free-grazed grass fed + grass finishing cattle are more ecofriendly. One study of carbon footprint evaluation at White Oak Pastures, found that the 3,200-acre farm stored enough carbon in its grasses to offset not only all of the methane emissions from its grass-fed cattle, but also much of the farm’s total emissions.
So, if we eat grass fed + grass finishing meat like the one from White Oak Pastures and Carman Ranch, our eco system can go back to its natural state, no GHG from cattle. So, there is no reason to eat fake meat because it won’t support the earth’s eco system since manufacturing them creates GHG. Plant-based meat is produced with industrial farming – particularly the use of tillage, which destroys soil carbon. According to Dr. Mark Hyman, MD, who wrote a book called Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Out Environment, and Out Communities, “Thirty to 40 percent of all the atmosphere carbon comes from the destruction of oil, through tillage and agricultural chemicals, that leads to climate change.”
So, please DO NOT listen to Bill Gates, he is just crazy. Fake meat doesn’t solve anything. It just creates more damage to the eco-system and human body, and makes the rich richer.
Reference:
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/are-humans-major-cause-global-warming
https://scied.ucar.edu/learning-zone/climate-solutions/reduce-greenhouse-gases
Your Body, Your Health, Your Life 