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Eat Less, Or the Icecaps Melt

Meat a big climate change contributor, study finds

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 30, 2008 1:21 PM CDT

(Newser) – To avoid catastrophic global warming, people need to cut way down on their meat and dairy consumption, a new report on climate change says. Four modest servings of meat and about a quart of milk a week are all we should be consuming, the Guardian reports. And the report urges government programs to limit emissions, because consumers won’t make these changes voluntarily.

Food production is responsible for almost one-fifth of carbon emissions in Britain, the report by UK-based Food Climate Research Network found, with meat and dairy accounting for half of that. But meat and dairy aren't the only guilty foods —we should also downgrade our consumption of unnecessary treats like chocolate and beer.

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Peppercorn Beef Shoulder Filet Steak ((c) TheBusyBrain)

A polar bear swims near ice floes in Baffin Bay above the Arctic Circle as seen from the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Louis S. St-Laurent, Thursday, July 10, 2008. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)

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Food choices are affected by cost, time, habit, and other influences. Study upon study has shown that awareness-raising campaigns alone are unlikely to work, particularly when it comes to more difficult changes. - Food Climate Research Network

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Eat Less, Or the Icecaps Melt