It’s delicious, it’s packed with protein and fat,
and it's a driver of global climate change?
That’s right, this is beef.
Not only is it a huge part of regional diet and culture,
it's also a large part of the United States economy,
contributing around $165 billion dollars
according to a 2014 economic analysis.
It’s a growing industry with nearly
13 billion kg (28 billion lbs)
of U.S. beef production annually,
the largest of any country in the world.
Seems great for business,
except for the fact beef releases 37% of all
human-induced atmospheric methane in the US alone
Human-induced methane is defined as
methane brought about by our human behaviors and activities.
And beef, along with other livestock production,
is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than all the
cars,
planes,
and trains in the world.
There's definitely a lot tied into the beef production industry,
so how would a switch from
beef to beans affect the US?
How would it affect the rest of the world?
Beans don’t often get the spotlight,
but maybe they should.
These seeds, yeah, they're seeds,
are loaded with protein and fiber,
but are way lower in fat, saturated fats,
and cholesterol than animal products.
Fiber, which 97% of Americans don’t get enough of,
can help control weight, blood glucose and cholesterol.
Beans are also light on the wallet.
Much cheaper than beef!
0.5 kg (1 lb) of pinto beans costs about $1.20,
while the same amount of lean ground beef
now typically costs around $5.70.
Cha-ching!
And while beef is a good source of minerals,
vitamin B-12, and protein,
too much of it can put you more at risk
of heart disease, certain cancers, and digestive issues.
The American Heart Association and the
American Institute for Cancer Research
both suggest you eat more plants and less meat,
so substituting beans for beef
would probably be a huge boon to your health!
But, other than your health and bank account,
how would making the switch from
beef to beans affect the rest of the world?
In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
stated that we only have until 2030 to stop
the globe from warming to a level over 1.5° C (2.7° F)
more than preindustrial era temperatures.
Beyond that and the risk of drought, floods,
extreme heat and poverty will increase drastically.
That doesn’t sound too optimistic
for the future of our world.
So where does beef figure into all this?
Well, while people usually focus on
carbon dioxide as the bad boy of greenhouse gases,
methane and nitrous oxide
are also major players.
More than half of these non-CO2 emissions
come from, you guessed it, livestock farming.
A single cow can burp and fart up to
320 liters (84 gallons) of methane gas
every day.
Without the demand for beef,
the global population of over 1.5 billion cows
would decrease,
significantly reducing the amount of methane
released into our atmosphere.
Methane traps heat in the Earth's atmosphere
and has 23 times more warming potential than carbon dioxide
Less cows mean less methane,
and that would help slow rising temperatures across the globe.
But it doesn’t stop there.
It takes 15,000 liters (3,962 gallons) of water
to produce just 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of beef.
That's twice the amount of water
needed for pork production,
and three times the amount needed for chicken.
Kidney beans only need
1,500 liters (396 gallons),
which is a tenth of the amount of water
required for beef.
Consuming beans instead of beef could help
alleviate any water scarcity looming
in the near future.
Beans also use much less land.
Just one-twentieth of land per unit
of protein consumed compared to beef.
Seeing as 35% of all US farm operations are beef farms,
switching to beans would free up a lot of land.
Well, the newly available land could be turned
into parks and wild areas.
Or it could be used to grow other types of food,
which could help mitigate growing food demand.
Both the ranchers and the U.S. economy
would take a serious blow.
We would have to figure out a way for
ranchers to transition from a
tradition-based livelihood to something else.
In reality, we probably wouldn’t start eating beans instead of beef all at once,
and this period of transition would hopefully
give us time to figure out ways to lessen
the impact on ranchers and the economy.
But the pros of eating beans
instead of beef far outreach the cons.
And that’s just if you gave up beef,
not all meat.
Even if you make the choice to phase beef out slowly,
it’s a great way to begin your
personal fight against climate change.
Sometimes, global occurrences can seem out of our control.
But what we eat is something
we actually have major power over.
And hey, we’re not saying you have to go vegan
Becyase that's a story for another What If.