Red Meat, Green Guilt

Here in the U.S., it’s National Meat Month. Over in the UK, however, a top food-policy advisor is telling consumers they should only eat meat once a week at most—for environmental reasons.

Tim Lang, a professor and an advisor on food policy to both the World Health Organization and the UK’s Department for Environment, said meat consumption is "out of control." His suggested solution: "Let's go back to where culture has been for thousands of years, which is meat is an exception." (“Thousands of years”: how progressive.)

According to Prof. Lang, meat production hurts the environment because raising animals requires energy and water, and cows produce methane. So, if you’re eating meat you’re not just hurting yourself, you’re hurting the animal you’re eating, and you’re hurting the penguins and polar bears. Got that?

This year I, like many others, am resolving to eat less meat for personal health reasons—but not to fight global warming.