What would happen if everyone stopped eating meat tomorrow? - Carolyn Beans
Let's explore a hypothetical together.
There are over four times as
many livestock as people.
Farmed cattle alone weigh
nearly ten times as much
as all wild mammals combined.
So imagine if a wizard of meatless
dining suddenly appeared
and with one wave of a wand wiped
away all meat from our shelves—
along with any desire to eat it.
Farm animals destined for food vanish—
whisked away to another planet.
What happens in the following days,
years, and even millennia?
Overnight, food related greenhouse gas
emissions drop by about 63%.
We no longer get protein
and key nutrients
from the approximately
70 billion chickens, 1.5 billion pigs,
300 million cattle, and 200 million tons
of fish and shellfish
processed for consumption each year.
To help fill this nutritional gap,
our demand for fruits, vegetables,
and legumes go up—
a diet that most dietitians agree contains
all of the nutrients we need
for a healthy life.
But initially there aren’t enough
of these foods to go around.
The rise in demand causes
produce costs to soar.
In regions like Mongolia,
where the harsh environment makes
it difficult to grow vegetables,
a sudden lack of meat leaves
people with little to eat.
Cultures built around meat
lose their foundations.
Members of salmon-eating tribes in the
Pacific Northwest of the United States,
for example, lose not only
sustenance and livelihoods,
but an integral component
of their religion.
Tens of millions of anglers lose work
that was already threatened
by dwindling fish populations.
As the meat industry collapses,
many households in developing countries
are left scrambling for income
that once came from livestock farming.
Some meat producers shift
to agricultural crops,
which leave workers—
and neighboring communities—
less susceptible to respiratory diseases
associated with livestock production.
As crop agriculture expands,
prices come down.
Ultimately, vegetarianism becomes less
expensive than meat-eating
in most countries.
Luckily, we don’t need to clear
new farmland to grow all this food.
Without animals raised for meat,
land that had been used to grow
feed is now available.
All things considered,
our new diets require less land and water.
Millions of deaths are avoided every year,
thanks in part to lower rates
of heart disease, cancer,
and other conditions associated
with red meat consumption.
We no longer contract new pathogens
from wild animals hunted for food,
or novel influenza viruses
from farmed pigs,
or drug-resistant superbugs that develop
in beef cattle
that have been preemptively
fed antibiotics.
As the years pass,
global biodiversity rises
as habitat loss, pesticide use, and other
pressures from agriculture subside.
Amazonian birds have more
forest to fly over.
Fewer cheetahs are shot for stalking
too close to livestock.
Bee, wasp, and butterfly communities
thrive as natural areas expand.
In turn, insect-pollinated crops
produce higher yields.
Many ocean species rebound
from overfishing.
Throughout history,
humans in traditionally vegetarian regions
have evolved a genetic mutation
that helps them more efficiently
process fats from plants.
So over thousands of years,
our bodies may evolve to make
the most of our veggies.
Or we may lose some adaptations, like the
ability to extract iron from meat.
Of course, a wizard will not
turn our world meatless.
Though many individuals are choosing
to go vegetarian,
globally, meat eating
is still on the rise.
This trend spells trouble for our climate.
Even if we suddenly stopped burning
fossil fuels,
business as usual food systems paired
with a growing population
would push global temperatures over 1.5°C
by the end of the century.
Cattle are the biggest culprit.
Beef and dairy production are responsible
for over 60% of all food-based emissions,
while only providing around 18%
of the world's calories.
In fact, diets containing modest portions
of meats like chicken
often produce less greenhouse gas
than vegetarian diets high in dairy.
Reducing beef, cheese, and milk
consumption could go a long way
toward achieving many of the benefits
of a meatless world—
no magic required.
