Hey there!
Welcome to our website, where we address important issues about meat production and write informing blog posts about this topic.
We are called Meet: Change and we are two students who believe that something should be done about meat production being a large factor of the global issues we face.
What global issues you might say?
We’ll discuss more of the issues in our next blog post but to briefly outline a few, they include the excessive need for water, as well as an abundance of greenhouse gas exhaust. In regards to the water usage required for the production of meat, believe it or not, it takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce just 1 pound of meat. [1]
Comparing this to needing only 25 gallons of water to grow 1 pound of wheat, it's clear that irrigating the crops the animals eat, providing drinking water, and washing away the filth in factory farms, transport trucks, and slaughterhouses causes the farmed-animal industry to place a tremendous strain on our water supply. [2]
Check out this interactive website that allows you to see the amount of water various products require! (click on the underlined text)
In fact, you can save more water by not eating a pound of meat than you can by not showering for six months!
Meat production also accounts for the greenhouse gasses in our planet. The gasses come from the factories that produces the meat, as well as, from enteric fermentation (digestive process of cows and sheep) and manure storage.
One of the two main gasses released is methane which has a 28 times higher effect on global warming than carbon dioxide. [3]
Well, we don’t have to give up meat to change our impact. Cutting out just one burger per week would remove as much greenhouse gas pollution as taking your car off the road for 350 miles.
If all Americans ate no meat or cheese one day a week, it would have the same climate-change prevention effect as taking 7.6 million cars off the road for one year. [4]
It is this exact statistic that interested us in plant-based meat, specifically plant-based burgers. How crazy is it that one burger can have such an impact?
With nearly half of Canadians (46 per cent) eating burgers at least weekly, this can have quite the impact. [5]
So, what? That's the real question here. What can we do? What is the solution?
There are several companies that provide plant-based burgers that are finally receiving the recognition they deserve. The difference between a "veggie" burger and a plant-based burger, is that the latter tastes exactly like meat. Quite intriguing, no?
With every meat eater's reason behind not giving up meat is because "it just tastes so good", this revolutionary product is the ultimate solution. Not only is it's impact on the environment significantly less, it provides meat eaters the incentive to introduce it into their diet as it, again, tastes exactly like meat! Furthermore, it challenges the stigma many have regarding the decisions of vegans and vegetarians to cut meat out of their diet due to animal-cruelty and the effect meat production has on the environment. In a way, plant-based burgers make caring about the environment more inviting, rather than the overboard and hardcore animals obsession that comes to mind when some hear the word "vegan".
A leading company in providing plant-based meat is Beyond Meat, which produces meat fully made of plants.
We think the approach of choosing plant-based meat over regular meat as much as one can is the most effective way to reduce the total consumption of meat. As mentioned above in the statistic regarding the results of cutting one burger per week, it is evident that a small change on the local level can have a significant impact on a national and global scale. It is important to note that we are not saying one should eliminate all meat products, but rather seek sustainable options whenever possible.
Not only would eliminating meat completely would be impractical and unrealistic, most would not be on board with this idea. Furthermore, if every single person stopped eating meat, this would have a very significant impact on the meat industry. If demand was to drastically decrease, numerous meat companies and farms in developed countries will suffer, as they won't be able to pay their workers proper wages and keep their businesses afloat.
Let's take a look at the meat industry in Canada:
Across Canada, there are 1,002 different meat processing establishments that produce a variety of products ranging from fresh and frozen meat to processed, smoked, canned, and cooked meats. [6] Meat product manufacturing is by far the largest sub-sector of food and beverage manufacturing, accounting for 25% of the total revenue from goods manufactured. [6] In 2012, the meat industry generated revenues of $22.5 billion. It is also the largest food and beverage sub sector in terms of employment, employing 64,500 people in 2012. Canada is also a large exporter of meat products, exporting $6.9 billion (U.S. accounts for 48%) in 2014 while importing $3.8 billion (U.S. accounts for 80%). [6]
With these statistics, that undoubtedly have increased in the past years (in 2015, livestock receipts equaled $25.7 billion), we get the barest taste of what eliminating the meat industry would mean. [7] In essence, it would impact the country's GDP. As provided in a report put forth by the government of Canada, "in 2016, Canada's agriculture and agri-food system generated $111.9 billion of gross domestic product (GDP) and accounted for 6.7% of Canada's total GDP" which includes the farm and meat market, retail, food processing, and international trade. In 2015, the meat and dairy industry provided 256,456 jobs. [8]
Therefore, elimination is not the way to go due to the importance of the meat industry on a nation's economy (GDP and jobs), as well as, the global economy (trade).
In undeveloped countries, however, where meat makes up a large majority of the people's diets there would be negative effects of elimination. These include poverty, eliminating a good source of nutrition and protein, as well as, a market that provides many citizens crucial jobs they require in order to provide for their families.
By choosing substitution and showing interest in a sustainable option, the current monopoly witnessed in Canada's meat industry would lessen with the increase in competition and newer sustainable companies taking part of their market share. Furthermore, the competition that would ensue along with the increase in demand for plant-based meat would provide large meat companies the incentive to introduce these options in order to avoid economic loss in the long run.
So how do we convince people to seek out this sustainable option? Is it even offered in Canada? What will be our "action"?
To raise more awareness on this topic we have created this website. On here, you, like many other individuals will find posts regarding different aspects of this issue in various perspectives. Additionally, through out the posts, we'll be introducing possible solutions to combat the ever growing problem of climate change.
After reading our blog posts, we hope that this increases your awareness on this issue and would possibly inspire you to try plant-based meat. Of course there are numerous ways that YOU can help. You can sign a petition we've created that asks people like you to support the initiative of McDonald's introducing plant-based burgers in their Canadian menu. Many other large restaurants stores have invested in providing consumers this sustainable option, like Tim Hortons and A&W’s. Therefore, we believe that there is already a market for this product, and its demand will only increase from here.
Most people who are interested in veganism or vegetarianism or just trying out plant-based meat are mostly young adults. Like with the current worldwide protests on climate change in which the majority were teenagers, it seemed to us that young people are more akin to change or develop new habits and care more about the environment. We thought that since our audience are mostly young adults, we wanted to reach out to them on a social media platform that they are most active on and would allow us to engage with them personally. On our Instagram page you’ll find content similar to what's provided on this website. Since creating the account, we posted daily and added stories onto our page. What differentiates our Instagram from this website is that we take a deeper look at this issue in our blog than in our social media posts.
There were various small yet significant strategies that we utilized while setting up and managing our Instagram page in order to engage our followers. First of all, we created a link that would lead to a page displaying all the necessary websites and links made available to our audience. We also have a specific layout theme for our Instagram posts in order to attract more followers. What we've found from hearing from our peers who run their own Instagrams is that having a theme is not only aesthetic but demonstrates organization, legitimizing the account and the information presented.
So, now that you've heard about our initiative, what will YOU do?
Bon appetit!
Work cited:
1. "How Much Water Does It Take to Make One Steak?." PETA. Accessed June 14, 2019.
2. Ward, Daniel. "Water Requirements of Livestock." Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario Government. January 2019. Accessed June 14, 2019.
3. France-Presse, Agence. "Methane emissions from cattle are 11% higher than estimated." The Guardian. September 29, 2017. Accessed June 14, 2019.
4. Zee, Bibi Van Der. "What Is the True Cost of Eating Meat?" The Guardian. May 07, 2018. Accessed June 14, 2019.
5. "2017 Canadian Burger Consumer Trend Report" Technomic. August 10th, 2017. Accessed June 14, 2019.
6. "Canada's Meat Product Manufacturing Industry." Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Government of Canada. November 10, 2017. Accessed June 14, 2019.
7. "Farm Income, Financial Conditions and Government Assistance Data Book, 2016." Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Government of Canada. June 28, 2017. Accessed June 14, 2019.
8. "An Overview of the Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food System 2017." Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Government of Canada. March 07, 2016. Accessed June 14, 2019.