Planet Earth was here before we were and she is our home, so why do we as humans treat her the way we do? It could be because it’s easier for us to not care, or maybe it’s just something some don’t think about. More and more people are choosing to live and eat a plant-based lifestyle, some would refer to this as pescatarian, vegetarian, or vegan. If you don’t know what the difference of these diets/lifestyles are, I’ll give you a quick breakdown. Pescatarians are those who chose to abstain from eating meat, but still consume seafood in their diets. Vegetarians also chose to abstain from eating meat, but also in this case, seafood. Vegans are the “most” plant-based of them all, abstaining from all animal-based food products and everyday products. This includes anything that comes from an animal including milk that comes from animals, butter made with animal’s milk, and even products such as honey. People chose to live these lifestyles for many reasons, but usually it’s either for dietary restrictions, or to better the environment. How we all choose to live our lives according to the environment and planet we live on, matters. Here’s a breakdown on how much water it takes to make a cheeseburger.
Now that’s a whole lot of water. But don’t worry…in 2023 there are so many alternatives to your normal beef burger. Plant-based burgers (see bottom of chart above) are still delicious, some even taste exactly like a beef burger, if that’s what you’re going for, and it’s environmental impact is so much less. It’s so important to keep in mind how much water goes into a pound of beef, pork, or chicken. This is how much power you have as a consumer of food everyday and guess what? You don’t even have to conform to a lifestyle label! Even if you cut back on your consumption of meat it would help so much, or if you only chose to eat chicken which takes a lot less water to produce than other meats such as beef or sheep.
There’s so much to learn and the choices you make, have so much effect. All it takes is a little bit of knowledge and some empathy for the world around us. It’s time for us to give back and if you want to open your eyes even more, I listed a few great documentaries about eating and the environment below.
- Food Inc.
- Cowspiracy
- Seaspiracy
- What the Health
