Red meat has a huge carbon footprint because cattle requires a large amount of land and water.

https://sph.tulane.edu/climate-and-food-environmental-impact-beef-consumption

Demand for steaks and burgers is the primary driver of Deforestation:

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-beef-industry-fueling-amazon-rainforest-destruction-deforestation/

https://e360.yale.edu/features/marcel-gomes-interview

https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2023-06-02/almost-a-billion-trees-felled-to-feed-appetite-for-brazilian-beef

If you don’t have a car and rarely eat red meat, you are doing GREAT 🙌🙌 🙌

Sure, you can drink tap water instead of plastic water. You can switch to Tea. You can travel by train. You can use Linux instead of Windows AI’s crap. Those are great ideas. But, don’t drive yourself crazy. If you are only an ordinary citizen, remember that perfect is the enemy of good.

    • Boomer Humor Doomergod@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      The idea that we have to grow food for food is ridiculous. Cows turn grass into meat just fine, why do we need to grow corn and soybeans for them

      I bet it’s because, like with hogs, we’ve bred them to be so growth optimized they can’t get enough calories from grass anymore.

    • iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works
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      8 days ago

      My partner and I reduced our red meat intake but I don’t think I could stop completely. A steak a few times a year just hits the spot too much. I’m keen for lab grown though.

    • humble_boatsman@sh.itjust.works
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      8 days ago

      Hence the bumper sticker that has been around since the 70s

      REAL ENVIRONMENTALIST DONT EAT MEAT

      Homesteaders and locally grown meat is a necessary way of life for those living in the country. CAFOs and suburban grillers can burn in hell.

      • FundMECFS@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        8 days ago

        I think it’s also a bit of a thing where most people treat it like a binary.

        They either think you have to go full on vegetarian or you eat meat.

        When what we should really be encouraging most people to do is cut down on meat. (You’re gonna have a lot less sucess if you ask them to straight up stop).

      • Auli@lemmy.ca
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        8 days ago

        I eat meat and it has very little impact. I hunt.

    • Feyd@programming.dev
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      8 days ago

      How dare you ask people to change literally any habit they have! It’s obviously someone else’s responsibility to change!

    • Screen_Shatter@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      I enjoy red meat, but I avoid it most of the time because of trying to be healthier. Also guilt from seeing videos of happy cows looking like gigantic dogs.

      Fucking shit though I had no idea coffee was so high up the list. I probably should drink less of it anyway, but ouch, that one hurt me way more than the beef.

      • ApollosArrow@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        I was surprised it was that high. I don’t ever drink coffee, so hopefully it offsets some of the meat. We have already reduced our consumption.

    • NewNewAccount@lemmy.world
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      7 days ago

      because companies pollute much more

      This argument drives me crazy. Companies, in this context, are the people. The companies pollute exclusively on behalf of their customers. WE ARE THE COMPANIES.

    • logicbomb@lemmy.world
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      8 days ago

      My big problem is not with individuals ethically trying to do the right thing, or about people trying to convince individuals to be ethical and to do the right thing.

      My big problem is the amount of effort in this when it will have only small gains. In today’s society, meaningful gains come from changes in government regulations and policies.

      If you want people to stop eating as much red meat, get the government to stop providing subsidies to cattle owners. I have a money-focused relative who owns cattle only because of the subsidies. At least let the price of beef go up to its actual market value. You’d think that would be an easy sell for Republicans who believe in the free market, but they’re the ones who want the subsidy the most.

      Of course, then, you can add additional regulations and encourage environmental responsibility.