About one in four Americans say they are eating less meat in 2020 than they had in prior years.
That motivation likely stems from many reasons - health concerns, environmental impact, animal welfare, and even food safety. When I made the switch to a vegan diet, it was a combination deal. The ‘oh-shit-I’ve-consumed-too-much-information-on-this-and-now-my-cognitive-dissonance-isn’t-working-anymore’ special. Extra fries.
Quick plug for reading up on the phenomenon of meat-related cognitive dissonance - but for sake of this illusion we call time, a quick definition: a clashing state wherein a person’s behavior as a meat eater conflicts with a belief, attitude, or value that this action contradicts. This is paired with some sort of validation so individuals can avoid this feeling of dissonance (through willful ignorance, dissociation, perceived behavioral change, or do-gooder derogation, for example). I.e.:
Beliefs: I love and care for animals and our planet.
Contradiction: I pay companies to slaughter animals and pollute the environment because of my taste preferences.
Justification: I buy grass-fed beef so I know they are at least living better lives before they die.
Here, the person uses their do-gooder choice in buying grass-fed to validate the dissonance they feel by being aware of the ethical and environmental impact of eating beef. No matter that grass-fed beef actually takes up more land than conventionally-grown, and the cows are still exploited and mass produced for our taste preference.
Today, as our world continues to battle the first major global pandemic since the early 1900s, it's more vital than ever that we talk about the multitude of reasons people are cutting back on meat.
While the origin of the coronavirus is still hotly contested, it likely came from a wet market. Regardless if you choose to believe this possibility, it’s evident from historical pandemics and sheer statistics that increased human contact with animals poses a threat to our collective health - particularly through exposure to unfamiliar viruses. Hunting, preparing, and consuming wild animals in the past has exposed us to lethal diseases like HIV/AIDS, SARS, and Ebola.
But it’s not just sketchy germs.
The greenhouse gases emitted from animal agriculture totals more than the entire transportation sector combined.
77% of the world’s land is being used to raise animals (including devastatingly inefficient land use to grow their feed), while producing only 18% of the world’s calories.
Marine life has been taken from the oceans at unprecedented rates. Scientists believe that if we continue to overfish, seafood will be gone before 2050.
70% of antibiotics used globally are for livestock (to prevent disease and enhance growth), which contributes to an increase in antibiotic resistant bacteria - a la “superbugs.” Not great in a world flush with pandemic risk.
It could not be clearer - the mass production and exploitation of animals creates less-than-ideal environments for humans. Irrespective of climate change and loss of species, our blatant disregard for animals allows us to unnaturally be exposed to a myriad of zoonotic diseases that we have no familiarity or immunity. Coronavirus is just skimming the surface of what it could look like next.
I know.. it sounds ominous as f*ck. It is ominous as f*ck!
Of course, there has to be a silver lining. Yes, hence the title of this post - eat your way to UTOPIA! There is definitely a better way for us to operate in this world.
And before you start to moan and groan about giving up meat forever, hold the phone. As it turns out, humans are smart, technology is fascinating, and there are *multiple* better ways.
First thing’s first - the easiest and most obvious way to make a difference here - eat less meat and animal products. Widespread adoption of a vegetarian or vegan diet would cut food-related emissions by 63% and 70%, respectively. That shift alone would make a massive positive impact.
Not only would this diet shift significantly improve the state of our global environment - forests, rivers, jungles, oceans, you name it - it would also improve the health of our collective people, and in turn decrease the need for our current reality of astronomical healthcare and pharmaceutical costs.
“But Jessssss, I don’t wannnnaa completely give up animals, you said there was another wayyyyy”
Okay, cry babies. Yes. It’s true. Get excited. If you really want to satisfy that primal taste for animal flesh while living a morally, spiritually, environmentally aligned life, there is hope for you yet.
You’ve probably heard of the new all-the-rage, super-sustainable, shockingly-delicious plant-based meat alternatives. They seem to be popping up everywhere. Impossible Foods, a plant-based meat substitute company made famous by mimicking the “heme” found in beef, is teaming up with local restaurants as well as fast-food giants like McDonalds. Beyond Meat is doing the same, and countless plant-based meat companies are now readily available for consumers.
There’s no doubt that plant-based meat is making big waves, but it’s hard not to consider the people who will see these alternatives as just-not-going-to-cut-it. And regardless of some shift in consumer patterns, as parts of the world continue to develop and our population continues to increase, so too will the global demand for meat.
That’s where the *even cooler* technology comes in.
It’s not plant-based meat - it’s cell-based meat. It’s “clean” meat - in vitro, stem-cultivated.. ah, for lack of better words, lab-grown.
Before closing this browser window with a cringey-half-smile on your face, consider the facts on this revolutionary technology.
Growing meat from cells (rather than a living, breathing, feeling animal) affords the opportunity to create high-quality, blood-and-guts-free meat in a clean, safe facility while negating the need for antibiotic and hormone use (therefore reducing the serious health risks of food-borne illness and antibiotic resistance).
Cell-based meat uses considerably less resources and puts much less stress on our environment. “Compared to conventional beef, cell-based beef is estimated to reduce land use by more than 95%, climate change emissions by 74% to 87%, and nutrient pollution by 94%.”
As opposed to plant-based meat alternatives, cell-based meat is genuine animal meat - it is not ‘fake’ meat by any sense of the word. This meat is made of tangible animal cells, without the need for the animal itself. The ethical implications of this concept alone could be paradigm changing.
Consider what the world might look like if the majority of the human population made the collective shift of eating less conventionally-grown animal products while increasing our consumption of plant-based and cell-based meats.
Animal agriculture related emissions would decrease tremendously, providing relief for our ever-warming planet and the people currently living near Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations who are experiencing air/water/land pollution and soaring healthcare concerns.
We could solve world hunger simply by reclaiming and allocating the land currently being used for livestock feed.
Millions of animals would be saved from artificial insemination and mass production, no longer forced to live out their lives enduring constant pain and torture, just for sake of our taste preference.
We could halt and prevent further deforestation by decreasing the need for more land to grow livestock feed.
Steering away from the common exploitation of animals would minimize our collective risk in being exposed to food-borne illnesses and foreign zoonotic diseases.
Shifting our diets to more plant-based foods would improve our global health and reduce our reliance on skyrocketing healthcare costs and symptom-masking pharmaceuticals.
With less pressure from global demand, overfishing could cease and our oceans would begin to repair themselves and maybe even reverse coral bleaching.
Before letting the potentially-creepy precedent of “lab-grown” meat repel you, imagine this world. A cleaner, more vibrant planet. Healthier people. Repaired ecosystems and thriving species that were once endangered. More equity, respect, consideration, and care. Less death, pain, disease, and risk.
This isn’t just an argument over personal choice and what our global demand for meat might look like. It’s fighting the cognitive dissonance modern humans have used to justify the mass exploitation of living beings for centuries. This is a moral stance on what should be acceptable and tolerated in this world - especially one where we are privileged enough to have this information at our fingertips.
Anyone who wants to see a future with a healthy planet (and in turn, a livable environment for humans), consider this a call to action. It’s pretty simple, really.
Eat less animal products
Invest in, patronize, and/or help normalize plant-based and cell-based meat alternatives
Keep learning!
I truly believe that we can eat our way to a utopian future. We have the technology, we have the resources, and we as consumers have more power than any of us can imagine. It’s up to us! We can either stifle or encourage this movement to take hold and propel us into a better future. Whatya say?
If you’re interested in learning more about plant-based and cell-based seafood, I implore you to read this paper from The Good Food Institute.