Why We Should Not Eat Beef- A TED Talk

Here is my TED Talk on why we shouldn’t eat beef. Enjoy (:

Posted by talonsmegan on June 17, 2011 at 1:58 pm | Comments & Trackbacks (12)

12 Responses to “Why We Should Not Eat Beef- A TED Talk”

talonszoe Says:

YOU CRAZY KID, YOU.
So.
You got emotional about that beef. And I don’t mean that in a mocking way, I mean that in a made-it-way-more-interesting-and-convincing to watch. Seriously. I’m never eating beef again, my god.
When you talk about half of the water in the US being used to raise cattle (wow, US, wow) how does that compare to other countries? Is the US just the leader by a little, or a lot?
The other thing is just…why is this not a bigger thing? If we see adds for energy-efficient lightbulbs and low-flow showerheads all the freaking time, why don’t we see more of the anti-beef? If that’s one of the biggest things that contributes to global warming, it seems like there should be more about it. I mean, I appreciate beef and all, but I don’t like it on a world-burning scale….
Anyways. Yeah. You were like a boss.
June 19th, 2011 at 3:52 am
talonsmegan Says:

SUCCESS (:
And thank you, I’m glad that I don’t just sound like a whiny little vegetarian.
In terms of water usage, it’s hard to determine how much water is actually used because what some people consider water going into the production of the beef, others might claim as separate. For instance, do you count the water that went into growing the grain to feed the cows? If you don’t, the number is much nicer to hear, but might not be as truthful. I’ve read that anywhere from 8-40 percent of the worlds water goes to the meat industry, which is still absurdly large, but would still put the US as a top consumer. No surprise there, I suppose, when one considers the meat laden diets many Americans consume.
And I completely agree. I think the big argument many people use in order to ignore the problem is that eating meat is natural and how are ancestors survived. Although that is true, it was never intended to reach such disturbingly massive Earth-destroying levels. Eating a certain amount of beef is perfectly acceptable, but the level which we have made it where a massive proportion of out grain, water, and land goes to cattle rather than people; that’s not normal. That is more unnatural then simply not eating meat, in my opinion.
Thanks so much for the comment!
June 19th, 2011 at 3:31 pm
Jen A. Says:

BRAVO!
That was an enthralling speech, bringing up so many questions and comments, while asking many moral questions.
I knew that raising cattle took a huge toll on the environment, but your numbers really made it clear how huge that impact is. If we all stopped eating beef, imagine what it would do for the environment? I do wonder though if the point you made-”when we look for ways to help the environment, nothing compares to giving up beef.”- is scientifically proven? What if we stopped all industry?
You talk about the impact of producing the grain to feed the cattle and the negative impact it has in the way of deforestation, water pollution, and water shortages, but you also mention how this grain could be used to feed the world, and how the water used could quench many people’s thirst. From a social standpoint, that is an astonishing concept, and it’s sad that it hasn’t been applied yet. But do you think the food would reach them? As it is, Africa as a continent has 15% of the population but only 3% of the food and the wealth (statistics are a couple years old). Would the distribution of food change if we had more of it? Or do we first need changes in social and government structure? In terms of both food and water, are you suggesting we send our excess to other nations? Wouldn’t the energy needed to so that be great? From an environmental standpoint, wouldn’t growing the grain to feed the hungry still result in deforestation for land to grow the plants, as well as water pollution from the fertilizer used to grow them? What is the environmental impact of growing alternative protein-rich foods?
At the beginning of your speech, you tell us about the huge increase in beef production, but have you plotted that against the growth in population?
I think you really got into the heart of the debate when you made the point at the end of your speech saying, “either our population goes down, or the cow population goes down.” I think the answer is that both need to decrease. As you addressed in your previous comment, eating beef has been a natural part of human’s history. What’s causing the extreme destruction now is the volume that’s being produced to meet the wants of our rapidly growing population.
Along with the huge environmental and social moral questions that you asked, it also comes down to, “yes, our ancestors have killed animals for thousands of years, but would I really kill an animal myself?” Personally, I think unless it was my only option, the answer to that question would be no. I can talk about where the meat on my plate has come from while I eat, because I know I have to face the truth, but really, I’m not. I don’t know many people who are completely honest with the fact that they are eating the flesh of a previously living, breathing animal.
All of the questions I’ve asked you haven’t been from the mind of a cold, clinical person. I just want to see every side of the issue, because after years of eating meat, it seems quite evident that a huge slash in the amount of meat in my diet is necessary. That’s a serious decision, but from what I’ve seen and the questions I’ve asked, it seems to be the only right one.
June 19th, 2011 at 6:13 pm
talonsiris Says:

Wowowowow. Wooooaaaah. You made me feel extremely guilty at times, completely hopeless… and then I was inspired by your rage.

Love the beginning! It sort of gives the idea that even though we know that other beings suffer for us, we still enjoy gorging their flesh (it made me wince when you said that)and turning a blind eye to the various effects that are connected. You continue onto the topic of deforestation. Is there any possible way to use the land that the cow herders no longer want to use? What amount the lovely cow manure?

It’s so hard to believe that cattle farming actually causes so many problems. Wouldn’t we know more about this? It does seem like the most prominent cause for global warming, deforestation, etc. But if we were all to convert to vegetarianism, the cost and chemicals going into producing the fake meat could be another problem. What about the people who can’t afford it? If we drastically cut back on beef production, will there still be enough protein to go around, when it seems like there isn’t enough even now? (devil’s advocate moment, just so you know)

Maybe we should all go back to hunting deer. And fluffy bunnies. And pigeons. No one would be overweight with all the exercise you’d be getting, less factors would be drawn into the consumption of the animal, and nothing would be wasted. I like that idea.

Thanks for the overall quality of performance and research. YAY.
June 19th, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Sara without and "h"'s Blog! Says:

Amazing Megan!
I’m a vegetarian to and I completely understand when you said eating mamals had always been something you never really liked. So since your not really allowed to become a full vegetarian would you consider being a vegetarian later in life? I was also woundering what you thought of becoming a vegan? Do you believe that eating eggs and drinking milk is also cruel to animals and harms the environment? Also I was amazed at the amount of water it took to make a single pound of beef! it absolutly disgusted me! I was woundering if you found any research on finding another way to make beef without using so much water? You also mentioned how much forest was being used up be farmers for they’re cows, do believe there is another way to farm them so they don’t make the land incapable of holding life? Of course I would much prefer people not eating beef at all, but is there another to make it more environmentally friendly? I loved your video and all of the information was amazing, it made me glad to be a vegetarian!
June 19th, 2011 at 6:23 pm
talonsmegan Says:

Iris- Fake meat, in my opinion, is not exactly where we should be headed. Also, complete vegetarianism isn’t mandatory either. Reduction is the key here. Because as you briefly mentioned, cow herders do use some land which would have no other use. However, much of the land they do use would be better off remaining as forest or being used to farm grain and other vegetables. As for fake meat, it is extremely heavily processed, laden with chemicals and preservatives, and expensive. I see hardly any benefits to it beyond the fact it’s not real beef.
For the question of enough protein, beef is far more expensive then many people in poorer countries can even afford. There are reasons it’s such a western epidemic. Cheaper and more sustainable forms of protein are, and always will be, available. Chicken, other birds, pork, nuts, grains, all forms of protein, all much more sustainable and potentially available then beef. And thank you very much for the comment, dear (:

Jen- This comment intimidates me, but I will try my best to answer it fully.
On terms of giving up beef and its environmental impact, of course giving up all forms of industry would have a greater effect, but I was referring to an individual level of something that is realistic. Things I was comparing it to were things like low flow shower heads, low flush toilets, driving a little bit less, etc… I should have probably made that more clear.
Sending food to other countries is of course, probably rather hopeful of me. I completely agree that our government at the moment is in no way likely to do that, which in itself is another sad concept. I agree that we would need to first see a massive shift in the government before this would happen, but perhaps having more food could prompt this? As well, sending food overseas would require much energy, an excellent point! I hadn’t really thought about that. However, there is so much food being shipped across the globe already, surely the food could be packed onto boats and planes already destined to make the trip? Of course this is not ideal, but it is a difficult problem to tackle.
What my thinking was in terms of land usage for grain is this: if we were slowly bringing down our consumption of beef as we increased how much grain we grew, we could switch land from cattle to grain (or other crops) as our consumption lowered. Also, crops used for grain can be used over and over again, because the soil is not exposed to the harsh elements as it is with beef. This means there is not the same sort of cycle of always needing more land.
With growing foods like soy, the water consumption is something like 2000 litres to produce 1 kilogram of soy. Much better then the 5000 gallons to produce 1 kg of beef. Plants are always much better on an environmental standard, because the only water needed is the water to grow them; you do not have to grow their food as well.
The growth of beef per capita has doubled: I was going to include this statistic but I opted however for the global increase. Because population aside, the Earth’s size has not changed. No matter the population, the demand on the planet for beef has increased by 4 times. And it was this effect which I was focusing on.
I completely agree with your comment that both need to go down. No matter what we do our world can’t really support this many people: no matter what we’re putting into our mouths.
Thanks so much for the comment, and I hope I managed to answer a couple of your questions!
June 19th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
Louise L Says:

I’ve heard about how the methane cows produce is contributing to global warming and how rain forest is being sacrificed for cattle farms but I never know how it’s ruining the carbon and nitrogen cycle or how much water is being used. The amount you’ve described, what do they do with the water? Give all their cows 15 minute showers? Because I honestly don’t know how one piece of meat that people see everyday takes so much to be placed there. I just can’t imagine it. I’ve never been much of a steak person but I do have beef at least 3 times a week, I will never look at it in the same way ever again. I’ll probably still eat it but definitely at lot less now. This also made me understand how little I understand of what I have. I have no clue how 99% of the stuff in my house is produced or made or grown. I just take everything for granted and never think about what effect it had on the world.
June 20th, 2011 at 1:10 am
talonsmegan Says:

Most of the water is used for growing the grain to feed the cattle, and on top of this already large number is the fact that most cows drink about 12 gallons of water every day, 30 when they are young.
And it really is strange when we start thinking about where all our everyday items actually come from, isn’t it? It’s so easy to just look at an item for what is physically sitting in front of you, instead of all the resources which were actually needed to produce it.
Thanks so much for commenting. (:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:04 am
Lexi Says:

A very refined, well executed rant. Just kidding.
But seriously, your TED talk was great! I really liked how you began by talking about your own experience. And also how you ended by leaving us with such a powerful image.
Your stats were very shocking and they made me think. I didn’t know how much resources cows used until you started talking about it.
However, I don’t think I could stop eating beef. It just tastes too good. Plus, I’m not the one cooking food at my house.
So, yeah, that was great.
June 20th, 2011 at 10:15 am
talonsmegan Says:

You don’t have to stop eating beef entirely, any sort of reduction whatsoever will have huge benefits for the planet. I mean, if everyone hears about this and simply says, it tastes too good, then how could change ever happen? It’s not about giving up beef, it’s about eating it at an amount which is sustainable. How much we eat now, is not.
It’s nice to eat beef, sure, it tastes good, but we can’t exactly enjoy it if our planet has been destroyed, can we?
Thanks for the comment. (:
June 20th, 2011 at 10:35 am
talonsjen Says:

Thanks for replying to my comment Megan! I totally understand what you mean about how growing grain results in better land use over an extended period of time-at UBC Farms I learned about the idea of “never a fallow field”.

June 29th, 2011 at 1:33 am
claire Says:

hey great video, you provided a lot of great and compelling information. I’m writing an essay on this topic and got a lot of good content from your video (I’ll cite )

I’ve given up beef for nearly a year so far
November 23rd, 2011 at 5:13 am