Into The Meat Of The Issue
Discusses the current perception of Australians with respect to conservation and environmental issues; assesses the concepts of vegetarianism and reduced meat consumption in context with these views.
Various conservationists argue that vegetarianism can reduce one’s personal greenhouse gas emissions, which is beneficial to the environment. Australian meat production is responsible for an estimated 18% of CO2e emissions (measure of total greenhouse gas contribution).
However, some consider meat consumption to be a part of a national spirit. The total emissions of CO2E can vary depending upon an individual’s transportation, energy and dietary choices.
The Balancing Act report found 86% of greenhouse gas emissions from the meat sector to come from cattle farming. Specifically one third comes from gut fermentation (cattle burping, gas, etc.). In total, the Australian meat sector produces about 91 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year, while Australian transport accounts for 80.4 megatonnes per year.
The Balancing Act found that one dollar’s worth of meat production causes 26.7 kg of greenhouse gas emissions, while it uses 731 liters of water and 187 sq. meters of land.