My ideal meal is a juicy, beer-soaked brat on top of a slightly toasted pretzel bun with caramelized onions spread across and a hint of ketchup. Regardless, I acknowledge that my brat obsession and overall meat consumption comes at a price.
This semester I enrolled in an environmental studies class (SOILSCI101). The end of the semester project was to propose an action plan that posed as a solution for an environmental issue. My group focused on agricultural practices—specifically how meat production in America affects the environment.
By the end of our research, we all became supporters of this dietary change known as the weekday vegetarian. A weekday vegetarian means that Monday through Friday you don’t eat meat or fish, but come the weekend your normal dietary desires can emerge. I was surprised by how realistic this change is and how impactful it is. I have adopted this practice and the change is threefold. Not only will the environment thank you, but you can expect a thank you card from your body and your wallet.
As depicted in NPR’s illustration, producing one hamburger patty in the USA comes to a rather large sacrifice of water, land, and energy. Although beef consumption in the USA has been slowly decreasing, our overall consumption of chicken has been increasing. Nonetheless, chicken demands 1,964 liters per pound (compared to 6,985 liters per pound for beef cattle). In contrast, it takes 89 liters per pound to produce eggs. If you are curious about how other foods compare, check out the Water Footprint website. By saying goodbye to meat five days out of the week, imagine how much water you will be saving!
Even more so, our country’s agriculture methods for meat production are not the healthiest. Searching out authentic meat that is hormone and antibiotic free is a challenge. And the partnership between agriculture companies and the FDA allows for more creativity in the design of labels, which actually ends up making it harder for us common shoppers to find quality meat. The addition of antibiotics in our livestock changes how bad bacteria interact with our body, too, making us more susceptible to illnesses that are difficult to cure. The normalization of low-quality meat is also linked to the increasing obesity rates here in the States.
Personally, I have noticed a significant energy boost since I began the weekday vegetarian diet. This can be easily traced to my increased vegetable and fruit intake. I’m more rested with less sleep and able to sustain that energetic nature longer than before and even in the midst of crunch time for school.
The last area I noticed a difference was in my wallet. Let’s be real- we are poor college students always looking to save a buck here and there. The weekday vegetarian diet is a great way to do so. Personally, I spent $41.8 on groceries that lasted me about a week and a half. This included oatmeal and fruit to go on top of it, bagels, avocados, veggie burgers, veggies, and granola. Outside of my personal groceries, I find myself paying $2 to $5 for lunch or dinner at the UW dining hall and $5-$9 out at a regular restaurant. It is usually the addition of meat that the price of dinner goes from $7 to $10, and that three dollar difference makes a difference in the long run.
The best part of this dietary change is that it is realistic. I am a meat-loving woman that prides herself on how she can eat four brats in one sitting. Still, I know that the choices I make today will affect the choices future generations will be able to make. Even though this is an individual change, if enough individuals change their meat demand, the agriculture system and more importantly our environment will take notice. The last thing I want is to rid the future generations from the opportunity of biting into a flavorful brat.