Your heart will thank you: and so will the animals.

Karine Nohr

Standing on the periphery of a Sheffield protest about the environmental crisis, and in my capacity previously as doctor, a question that often arose was “Yes, but what can I, as an individual, do? I am worried about the environmental crisis, I am very worried about what the future might hold for my children, sometimes it even keeps me awake at night, but there is nothing that I can do.” 

Many people feel understandably overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem. 

So let’s look at how we can start to think about this. One of the biggest causes of the climate crisis is meat production. 

Meat production has significant land, water, and climate impacts globally, which indirectly affect places like Sheffield by contributing to climate change and resource depletion. This occurs through land use for grazing and feed, large water consumption, and the emission of potent greenhouse gases like methane and nitrous oxide. 

Natural habitats, such as particularly forests, are cleared for animal grazing, occupying huge amounts of land. About 80% of agricultural land is used for livestock production; this is about a third of habitable land being used for grazing and for growing food for the animals, and is a very inefficient use of that land. To supply 1 kg of meat, about 7-15 kg of plant food is required. So that much more land is needed to produce meat than to produce the equivalent of plant food for people. 

The second issue is around water. We here in South Yorkshire have had to face issues with our water. This year we are having to face a water shortage. Additionally, with a backdrop of the privatised water industry causing huge problems for not only increasing costs for households, but problems of poor maintenance and sewage spills,  meat requires vast amounts of water. For example, a kilogram of beef can require 15,000 litres of water, food crops very much less. Also, animal waste often pollutes our water if it isn’t managed well. 

Thirdly, there is the issue of greenhouse gases. Meat production is a major source of these. The cattle industry produces a gobsmacking amount of methane each year (100 teragrams, if you are a numbers person) and the largest source of agricultural emissions worldwide. Methane is a particularly bad greenhouse gas, so is a key contributor to rising temperatures. 

The biggest impact that most individuals can make to reduce their personal impact on the worsening environmental crisis is to reduce their meat consumption.  And it’s a win-win-win: it would also have a big impact on your pocket, and also your health, including a reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, and obesity, along with improved blood pressure and cholesterol levels, better weight management, and support for gut and mental health.

“That’s all very well,” you may say, “but that is going to be difficult.  I like meat. My family likes meat”. 

Certainly,  changing habits can be hard. But many have done it and succeeded.  We need to start with what might feel reasonable and achievable goals. How might you get the ball rolling? And what would be important things that you might like to take into consideration, to ease the path?

Here are some recommendations.

Start gradually and make it easy. You and your household need to decide how many times weekly feels like a target that they would consider. Talking with those you live with and doing it together makes changing habits much easier.  Some people have started with a ‘Veggie Monday’ or a ‘Fibre Friday’. Ask yourselves, “What can we stick to?” What changes do we need to make to get started”? 

Make it attractive and make it fun. Experiment with new plant-based recipes. Learn about where you need to get the important nutrients, like protein (from beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, nuts, and seeds). Sheffield University has produced an online plant based cookbook called ‘sustainable eating and is available on the sheffield.ac.uk website. 

Make it satisfying and rewarding. The impact on health of a plant-based diet is now very well established. People start to feel a lot better and healthier. If you are trying to make this part of a generally healthier diet, make sure that the snacks that you have available in the house are healthy snacks, such as nuts and fruit. Make sure these are in reach and not out of view, whilst putting the unhealthy snacks out of reach, out of view. (and not in the house at all, is best). Remember that the food industry spends millions on finding foods that tickle your taste buds and don’t fill you up (so that you keep coming back for more). 

‘Start Well’ is an online Sheffield Directory where you can sign up for free courses across the City, for example, in a ‘family programme’ that will address healthy eating.  

Sheffield Foodworks has previously been mentioned in this column. Sheffield Foodworks upcycles surplus food as well as having cafes with very affordable vegetarian food, it has a great food market and you can also buy very reasonably priced veg boxes. 

So how about giving it a go?