I recently read where there is a Japanese study about the resources needed to grow beef. It is located here. And being all science-y it talks about the energy needed to get a kilo of beef.
I do not usually eat a kilo of beef at a time. I go for either a quarter pounder with cheese or a nice 10 ounce New York Strip (and sometime I go for the 14 ounce.) But I have never ordered the 2.2 pound hunk of beef.
So how much energy does it take to create my quarter pounder with cheese?
Being an American I can not think in the metric system and have to translate everything into pounds and miles. A quarter pound is about a tenth of a kilo, so doing a little math for every quarter pounder with cheese I do not eat I save the following amount of energy: 10 miles of driving or so in an American SUV (or 20 or more miles in a compact car) and 2 hours of a 100-watt light bulb (or 9 hours of a 22-watt fluorescent bulb).
Is my 15 seconds of eating and the calories consumed worth the energy? That is a call that each of us has to make. And I would not call on everyone to become a vegan or even a vegetarian (I have tried myself and cannot do it. I like eating meat.) But even I can cut down on how often I eat beef or any other animal. I am assuming that there is a sliding scale from beef to other animals.
So does this mean that if we all became vegetarians gas prices would fall? Probably. Energy use would fall with all of the environmental and pocketbook advantages that brings.
Great post! I tried the vegan thing for about 3 days, and I went running back to my greasy pepporoni. I think it is really important for people to see the process behind their plate, so to speak…it will help us all make better, greener decisions.