Too much meat...

When I make dietary choices, I usually consider the ingredients of the food from a health standpoint, but I don't generally think of how my food affects the environment. There are a few reasons for this. First, until recently I simply did not know a lot about where our food comes from, how it is processed, and how it changes the environment. Secondly, as a college student I generally buy the cheapest and most convenient food available to me, as I do not have much time or money. Recently I have begun to think more about my dietary choices, though I haven't made any big changes to the way I eat.

Of the food I've eaten in the last week, the various meats (especially ground, pre-processed ones on pizza and in pre-cooked sausage links) probably had the greatest effect on the environment. The animals that the meats came from had to be raised for a long time before being slaughtered for their meat, and they likely consumed a lot of corn and produced gases along the way. I've been trying not to eat as much beef and other meats lately, by cooking balanced vegetarian meals, but I don't know that I would ever give them up entirely, as it would burden my family and friends who are not vegetarian. These seem like minor concerns in the grand scheme of things. However, I also realize that my personal dietary choices, while they are important, are not as important as other actions I can take to help the environment, or a more large-scale dietary reform (which I would happily go along with).