We may never “meat” again

Week one complete. I must admit I surprised myself. I thought giving up meat would be more difficult than it actually was. Originally I was going to give it up for only four days a week and gradually work up to being completely meatless but this week I only ate meat twice. One of those two times was pure accidental. As I was biting into my turkey wrap and began to chew I realized I was eating meat. I had done it subconsciously without even thinking twice about it. I contemplated spitting it out but I figured at that point it was too late and I had to just keep going. It is second nature for me to eat meat. Reminding myself not to is going to be the most difficult thing. This week I am going to try only eating meat once. I plan on this being my last meat filled meal for the rest of the semester.

One positive thing I noticed during the week was I didn’t seem to be feeling as tired as the previous week. I got around the same amount of sleep and did the same activities but I had more energy. I can’t help but relate that to my meat consumption. Something that really surprised me in applying my sustainable behavior change was I didn’t crave meat like I thought I would. I have a feeling this will soon change once I have given it up for a greater amount of time.

” As environmental science has advanced, it has become apparent that the human appetite for animal flesh is a driving force behind virtually every major category of environmental damage now threatening the human future—deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, climate change, biodiversity loss, social injustice, the destabilization of communities, and the spread of disease. ” I found this quote in an article where people question if meat is sustainable. http://www.worldwatch.org/node/549 The article begins by stating that many people don’t believe meat consumption to have any or very little impact on the environment. In the article they focus on each category of environmental impact that are considered critical to the sustainability of the world and the affect meat-eating has on each. It was interesting to learn of the many implications which were supported with quotes from highly regarded people.

One of the categories I found interesting was the one discussing meat-eating’s affect on energy consumption. “To provide the yearly average beef consumption of an American family of four requires over 260 gallons of fossil fuel.” —“Meat Equals War,” web-site of Earth Save. That statistic amazed me, I had no idea how much energy was being consumed just so we humans can bite into a juicy steak for dinner. The amount of energy we could save by cutting down on meat consumption is a huge number. This project is really opening my eyes to many things. I never realized how un-educated I had been on this topic.