Why should you reduce meat consumption in 2024?

If you want to cut down on one thing this year, target cutting down on meat. Reduce meat consumption in 2024 and save the world from getting into far more perilous states of living. Read why it’s important for your health and how it would influence the GDP and people globally?

The clock is ticking, and more and more get added to Earth each second.

Talk of the town


A Japanese scientist, Mitsuyuki Ikeda from the Okayama Laboratories, has created protein steaks from human poop.

Tokyo sewage approached him to combat the Tokyo sewage issue, and he found that the Tokyo sewage has an immense amount of protein in the mud due to the growing bacteria in it.

They say the steaks would be juicy, delicious, and yum if they arose from grass-fed humans.

Do you see how the market can slowly find the switch to turn people to more lab-grown products?

Soon, industries might have the option to choose between ethically produced lab meat or going vegan for their consumers. The industries are still going to profit, but the mode might change slightly.

If every average American shares a portion of the meat they consume every year, the world could feed 2.5 billion more people.

It is no longer a need but a dire necessity as the world population meter keeps ticking and more and more people struggle to earn their living.

If the capable ones shared their lives with the less capable ones by refusing to take more, we could easily bridge this gap. However, most of us know it is not going to happen. To mitigate the problem, more animals are slaughtered and more lives are put on the line.

There are three points that will come out of this discussion:

1. Health implications of consuming more and less meat
2. Socio-economic impact of consuming more meat
3. Impact on animals and on the global ecosystem

A bit for the start!

Why would it be pertinent to reduce meat consumption in 2024?

• Impact on Carbon Dioxide levels

How does meat consumption increase the carbon dioxide level. A high-meat food diet will yield 10.24 kg whereas a vegan diet will produce 2.47 kg as per the reported link below.

• Use of land for meat production

The amount of lands razed to raise the livestock can tell you why you should reduce meat consumption in 2024. As per reports in BBC, high meat production area is 16.78 sq. meter and vegan food production are is only 4.37 sq.Meter.

• Need for more water for high-meat diets

The water amount used for producing each kind of food is a reason why you should reduce meat consumption in 2024.

Either find a way to use less water for raising animals or reduce meat consumption in 2024- a viable way to look at it. According to BBC from LEAP project/Nature Food, water requirement is as high as 890 liters for high meat food production while for vegan food it is only 410 liters.

Different standpoints before you decide to reduce meat consumption in 2024.

1.     From the ecosystem’s standpoint

A food climate policy expert with the World Resources Institute, Richard Waite, claims that going vegan is not on the list, but making substantial dietary changes is. The reason cited by him revolves around the global weight meat consumption is creating. Almost one-fourth of all global greenhouse gas emissions derive from cultivating, growing, and transporting food resources. But the majority of this quarter comes from global meat and dairy consumption. A total of 37.55 GtCO₂ is emitted in 2023. Meat production requires vaster areas of land and resources than vegetables and livestock, which is a definitive addition to the increase in greenhouse gases.

It is a good reason to reduce meat consumption in 2024 if you are really concerned about the fate of your children.

Every year, 70 billion land animals alone are sacrificed for our food.

Image credit: Faunanalytics.org on UN data.

Growing your own food is healthy, and killing your animals is unhealthy.

2.     From the health standpoint

The most frequent meat consumption issues worldwide stem from overconsumption of meat.

Red meat is bad, but chicken is not good either when consumed in large amounts.

1. Meat sweats

2. Feeling of increased lethargy and a sense of tiredness

3. Dehydration could set in anytime.

4. Weight loss enthusiasts could slow their progress due to excessive meat consumption.

5. Cardiovascular disorders could set in faster.

6. Constipation is a common problem in people who consume meat more regularly.

7. The increase in free radicals is more associated with excessive meat consumption.

8. Clogging of arteries and veins with excessive fat deposits.

3.     From a socio-economic standpoint

Socio-economically, it was observed that meat consumption is higher at high income levels than at lower income levels. Bourdieu’s theory of distinction is followed here in this scenario. Higher income levels guarantee an increase in meat intake, and then there is a decline in the meat consumption level, leading to a U-shaped curve in the population among the people with money.

Per year, how much meat is consumed by a single meat-eating individual is given below in the table.

Country	Meat consumption per person in Kg
The US	124
Australia	122
Argentina	109
New Zealand	101
Spain	100
African nations	<20

Do you see the disparity between the developed nations and the developing or poor nations in terms of meat consumption alone? Sharing meat with the less fortunate by consuming less on our part can prevent people from suffering from protein-deficient disorders globally. Also, it can reduce unnecessary demands from raising heads here and there every now and then.

Reduce meat consumption in 2024 for:

By killing more animals for food, we are somehow unbalancing nature, where man was supposed to be less to accommodate other species. But with fast-evading forests and thinning landscapes, our population seems to be becoming the predator of the rest.

If we are to be seated at the top of the food chain, we need to understand every aspect of preservation well. False domination and a sense of fulfillment arising from it must be curbed by all means.

If you know there are other animals that are being slaughtered everywhere else. Even a lion, tiger, and cat are not spared, so why are we doing this? This is the question that bothers people writing around it more.

We are slaughtering all forms of animals.

The animals in the ecosystem play a very significant role. We are unbalancing it more by killing them without using the right judgement.

Every animal here is assigned a task to which they stand true, and here is a bare minimum list.

Did you know that!

1. Lions: Apex predators made to balance the herbivores. They keep the ecosystem in balance.

2. Zebras: They can feed on hardened grass that is too difficult for other animals to feed on. The tender and new grasses and leaves can only come up when the land is clear of crusty vegetation.

3. Rodents: They disperse seeds and pollinate different plant varieties.

4. Donkeys: The most stupid of all of us can find water holes. They can decrease the distance between water holes for species. The water they find is much cleaner and cooler on most occasions.

5. Horses: They help increase plant diversity and provide a source of natural fertilizer. They can sense from afar alerting animals to evident danger in the forests.

6. Elephants: They disperse seeds, create clearings, and provide manure for plant growth. Thinning trees competing for life come alive as they help remove dead and damaged trees, releasing land and increasing carbon capture. If there are as many elephants as there were previously, the land could be freed of carbon dioxide by as much as 6,000 metric tons per square kilometer. The economic value of land could increase way more. The value of elephants would also go up more than what their ivory teeth can render.

In India, Jharkhand is a land where elephants are what we have grown up with. Jharkhand was created to protect the flora and fauna of the region, and not just let the human tribes get better opportunities.

The last elephant killing happened due to them short-circuiting when a herd came into contact with the electric wires. The government needs to remove hurdles from animal corridors to make their passages safer and prevent poaching for less money. Basically an industrial town, Jharkhand boasts Tata and Jadugoda Uranium Mines and copper, gold, and coal outlets. To keep these industries from taking a toll on human health and to keep the land as healthy as they are known in the tribal lore I have grown up hearing, it is important to save these elephants. It is a much-needed step that the government needs to look at. Immediate measures are essential in this respect.

How can you reduce meat consumption in 2024?

After dealing with the why part of the question, where we tried showing how reducing meat consumption in 2024 can help people and the world, we will come to the how part.

Modest meat-based diet reduction can reduce the carbon footprint by 75%.

Carbon reduction is being attempted by many, including an attempt to use gene editing therapy to use animal gut microbes to re-engineer pollution.

But how do you reduce meat consumption in 2024?

By incorporating a few essential steps in the process of meat consumption, you can reduce meat consumption in 2024.

1. Growing plants is easier, and using their protein needs to be explored better.
2. Choose eggs or fish, but space them nicely over the week. Remember, even overfishing is an environmental concern here.
3. Regular meat eaters, especially in hot and humid environments, can easily forego meat for days without any health impacts. The same cannot be pursued by people living in cold countries as the cold environment increases metabolism in the body. Fix a day and then keep increasing one day to two and then three in a week. Try it over the whole year, and you will succeed. Remember, it can’t be done in a day.
4. Try more vegetables, as they are healthier for your gut. Try meat substitutes like soy protein, mushrooms or even Indian cottage cheese.
5. Try different recipes for vegetables other than the ones you usually try out.
6. Shift from beef and mutton to chicken.
7. Don’t waste leftovers. An estimated 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted every year, worth $1 trillion. Do not be a part of this waste.
8. Eat more climate-resilient foods like amaranth and kelp. You will need to like what you eat, and if you don’t like it, you may not try it. Experiment with every food before you decide what you’d like to settle with.
9. Choose composting and either start by composting your food in the backyard or try joining a non-profit organization.
10. Use your scraps and peels to create organic dyes. With your leftovers, start creating fresh dyes and using them to color different objects. Experiment with colors to create more stable color solutions.
11. Try food that is stored in climate-friendly refrigerators. In that way, fresh food is guaranteed, which seals quality within. Many people feel they are not capable of getting enough nutrition from vegetarian meals.
12. Do not stray from your grocery list, and I can assure you that you will start eating more veggies and less meat.
13. Grow your own veggies in the backyard, and that way you will eat them fresh. Prepare your own compost and start using whatever little land you have, or switch to tubs. Most vegetables grow in tubs comfortably.
14. If and whenever you are in doubt, think of the world first, about your future first, and then think about yourself as an individual.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Conclusion

If this is not enough encouragement to stop eating meat or reduce meat consumption in 2024, then you might need to find your own ways of stopping yourself. Most of us might find one or two of these points matching us, but if you don’t find yours create your reasons but do reduce meat consumption in 2024.

If you don’t reduce eating them, you are doing bad to your environment. Think again if you want to put your child’s future at stake?