The Environmental Argument FOR Eating Meat
As Fairlie tells Time magazine, and explains in much greater detail in Meat, many of the statistics that make meat eating seem akin to using the Grand Canyon as a garbage dump do not reveal the whole picture.
The UN's widely quoted statistic that meat produces 18 percent of the world's carbon emissions contains "basic mistakes," according to Fairlie, including attributing all deforestation to cattle, rather than logging and development. It's also widely stated that the ratio between plant foods used to produce meat is about 5 to 1.
However, Fairlie points out that this takes into account only feeding animals foods that humans eat, which is common practice in the United States. But if you feed livestock such as cattle their intended diets -- grass, which people do not eat -- the real ratio is 1.4 to 1 -- much more sustainable.
There are benefits, too, to small farming particularly, including fertilizing soil and eliminating pests and predators. Meanwhile, animals that can be fed off of food waste and whey, such as pigs, are incredibly easy on the environment. Likewise for cows that are fed grass, which Fairlie says are "on balance, benign" from an environmental perspective.
But there is a "catch" to Fairlie's assertions that meat-eating is beneficial for the planet … we would need to switch over to organic farming, he says, as well as cut our meat consumption in half. In other words, in order for eating meat to become good for the environment, some major changes need to take place.