The Dangers of Meat

Did you know that meat is harmful for your health? That’s right. It has been proved that meat causes diseases on us humans like kidney problems, heart diseases, and even some types of cancer ^[1]. The processed meat represents the biggest risk to your health, since it increases the chances of contracting one of these diseases. America’s most common killer diseases, like heart attacks, strokes and diabetes are mainly caused by cholesterol and saturated fat, that are driven from the consumption of meat, dairy products, and eggs. 

Now talking about its impact on the environment. Meat has a serious effect on the planet we live in, and its production is considered to be one of the major reasons of climate change. How so?

Deforestation

The production of these animals grew a lot throughout the years. To be able to grow the animals, farmers need a lot of space. Trees have been sacrificed so that these animals can graze. For instants, in the Amazon, over 90% of its rainforest (land cleared since 1970) is used for grazing livestock.^[2] 

Animal cruelty

The major reason of animal abuse and suffering is factory farming, since these animals were turned into machines to produce meat, eggs, and milk. Industrial livestock sends eight times the human population on planet Earth worth of animals to slaughter ^[3], taking away their rights of living just so that humans can enjoy them on their daily meals.

These animals are stuffed in small cages, unable to move around, and some don’t even get the opportunity to see the sun light throughout their short life, except on their trip to the place where they will be slaughtered, all cramped in vehicles without food or water.

Water consumption

To produce a single pound of beef it takes more than 1,850 gallons of water, the equivalent to taking about 115 showers. It is required 1,250 gallons of water to produce a pound of lamb, 720 gallons referring to pork, and 520 gallons with chicken.

(FYE: these numbers do not take in consideration the water used to grow the crops for the animals’ alimentation)

Moreover, most of these animals’ feces are dumped in lakes or rivers, polluting them and killing sea life.

Release of CO2

The production of meat creates a significant amount of greenhouse gases too, especially CO2 which directly affects our planet. When one single kilogram of lamb is produced, almost 40 kilograms of the equivalent to this gas are released ^[4], 27 kilograms referring to beef, and 12.1 kilograms when it comes to pork.

It has been proved that animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gases than all the world’s transportation systems combined. What is the solution? It starts with you changing some food habits.

Educate yourself. There are several documentaries you can see that explain the impact of buying and eating meat. We recommend the following: Cowspiracy, Meet the truth, Dominion.

Eat the right proportions (people tend to eat more than what’s necessary).

Opt for meat with less impact on the environment (like chicken) and make sure it’s raised responsibly.

Try to reduce the consumption of meat on your diet and replace it with something else like plant-based food. It is true that meat has a lot of nutrients but you don’t need to consume meat to ingest those nutrients. You can find them in a lot of other foods. Great substitutes for meat are tofu, tempeh, and seitan ^[5]. You can also replace meat with mushrooms, beans, and lentils, that have a lot of great components for your health.

Check our e-book to inspiration. Let’s reduce our meat consumption and help our environment!

 References:

[1] Krantz R. (2016, February 15). 8 Reasons Meat Is Bad For You. Retrieved from: https://www.bustle.com/articles/137865-8-reasons-meat-is-bad-for-you-yes-even-chicken on August 16, 2020.

[2] PETA. Meat and the Environment. Retrieved from: https://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-food/meat-environment/ on August 16, 2020.

[3] animalEquality (2016, February 2). WHY FACTORY FARMING IS THE LARGEST CAUSE OF ANIMAL ABUSE IN HISTORY. Retrieved from: https://animalequality.org/news/why-factory-farming-is-the-largest-cause-of-animal-abuse-in-history/ on August 16, 2020.

[4] Green Eatz. Food’s Carbon Footprint. Retrieved from: https://www.greeneatz.com/foods-carbon-footprint.html on September 12, 2020.

[5] Donovan M. 9 Vegetarian & Vegan Protein Substitutes. Retrieved from: http://www.eatingwell.com/article/289565/9-vegetarian-vegan-protein-substitutes/ on August 16, 2020.

Surprise, surprise!

Green Impact has been cooking up something for you. We have been preparing this for three months, and we are happy to announce we have written a mini recipe e-book. That’s right! An e-book! We gathered seven of our favorite sustainable and healthy recipes, one for each day of the week. Go ahead and download it ( the link is right bellow) , don’t forget to tag us. We hope you like it!

Green WeekDownload!

Egg Code

Hey buddy,

Do you know what to look for when you are buying eggs? There are different packages, with different colour and classifications. It’s not a Da Vinci Code, don’t worry, we will explain it to you!

Have you noticed that every time you buy eggs, they have something printed on their shell? Well, those seem random letters and numbers, but they actually send a real important message to the buyer!

This is how the “Egg code” works in European Union: the first number represents the method of production; the two letters after, the country of origin (every country has its own code); and the rest of the letters are referred to the hen laying establishment.

Before putting this into practise, we should go over the method of production code. If the first number marked on the egg is a “zero” (0) then it means it was an organic egg production. If it is a “one” (1) then it is a free-range egg. A “two” (2) means it was a litter indoor housing production and a “three” (3) a cage farming one.

Do you feel that your questions were all answered? Let’s see if you learned something.

In this case we can see it was an organic production, you were correct! Well done!

With all this said and after being friends with you for this long, I don’t think I need to say to you that next time you buy eggs you should look for the number zero or one!

Have a nice shopping trip,

Green Impact Team

References:

[1] British Egg Industry Council. Egg codes and quality. Retrieved from: https://www.egginfo.co.uk/egg-facts-and-figures/industry-information/egg-codes-and-quality on April 17, 2020.

Food Waste

Hey there,

Around the holidays, a lot of food is wasted. Easter is just around the corner so what better time to discuss this but now? Did you know that in the European Union, approximately 20% of the total food produced each year is lost or wasted? “But what does it have to do with the environment?” you may ask. Well, wasted food accounts for 19% of the waste dumped in landfills, which contributes to the production of greenhouse gases like methane.

As a person there is a lot you can do (like making a list before shopping so you know exactly what you need, for example) but in this article we will focus on a bigger scale. Let’s see what companies are doing to be more sustainable!

Supermarket

Every day, a considerable amount of food is wasted in the supermarkets. For example: bakery, food that is about to expire, etc. Well, we proudly say that some supermarkets are actually taking measures to fight waste! Mark&Spencer, for example, lowers up to three times the price of the goods that expire in a certain period of time. People feel more tempted to buy because it’s cheaper and waste is avoided! In addition, the company also donates to charity. In fact since the Food Redistribution Programme started in 2015/16, Mark&Spencer has redistributed over 8.5 million meals preventing 3,500  tonnes of food from going to waste!

Mobile phone apps

Also, apps are being designed to promote sustainable eating. Restaurants, bakeries or other kinds of food places register the amount of food they still have available, and people that have signed up in the app have access to those numbers and can make a more informed choice. Sometimes, the facilities lower the prices too so that people feel more excited. We will leave some links bellow 😉

Restaurants

Buffet Restaurants are also taking measures! Usually in a buffet restaurant, you can eat all you can (if that isn’t the definition of paradise, I don’t know) but some people exaggerate and end up taking to the table more than they can eat. And the food goes off. Some restaurants, against this behaviour, are applying taxes to those who act like this: if you waste food, then you pay extra for the amount of food wasted!

Keep your eyes open and you might get a free cupcake!

Green Impact Team

References:

[1] European Union Website (2019, November 11). EU Platform on food losses and food waste. Retrieved from: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-180488 on April 10, 2020.

[2] Troitino, C. (2017, September 14). The Tragedy Of The Buffet Commons: Reducing Food Waste At Hotels. Retrieved from Forbes’ Website: https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinatroitino/2017/09/14/the-tragedy-of-the-buffet-commons-reducing-food-waste-at-hotels/#2eba90d117dc

[3] Mark&Spencer Website. Food Waste: Our business – tackling food waste in our own operations. Retreived from: https://corporate.marksandspencer.com/sustainability/food-and-household/food-waste#d1707f49af9b47d3b3beeb5891089d31