According to an article in Conservation Letters reported in the Canberra Times, all that Australians need to do to reduce greenhouse emissions and save the planet is to stop eating lamb and beef and start eating kangaroo instead. Evidently the methane-producing burps and farts (pardon my French) of sheep and cattle contribute 11 percent of Australia’s annual greenhouse-gas emissions. Kangaroos, however, emit little methane. Researchers say that 175 million kangaroos could produce the meat of 7 million cattle and 36 million sheep, and a switch-to-roo by 2020 could lower Australia’s greenhouse-gas emissions by 3 percent each year. Cutting the number of hard-hoofed livestock tramping around would also reduce soil erosion. But eating what is regarded as a nation icon by many Australians would require “large cultural and social adjustments and reinvestment,” Read the entire article
Filed under: Health, environment, life, sustainable living | Tagged: climate change, greenhouse gas, Health, kangaroos
I’ve been enjoying your blog. I’ve also been exploring roos, as well as koalas, Barry Crocker, and Matthew McConaughey over at the Rodeo.
One of the ways people in industralized countries can reduce their carbon footprint is to eat less meat. That includes Australia. We eat far to much meat compared to developing countries who suffer most from greenhouse gas emissions.
If Australians want to stop eating lamb and cattle, they can do so by replacing these meat with other food products such as fish, legumes, poultry, eggs.
However 150g of meat products per day is all that is required for healthy eating. This will include kangaroo meat as well.
I agree wholeheartedly. We have not become vegetarians but we have increased our meatless dinner meals to 3 or 4 times a week. However I recognize too that some of the alternatives you suggest also have serious consequences if all of us start consuming more. for example fish supplies are dwindling across our oceans. We need to consider more than just the carbon footprint when we make our food decisions. I am not sure if you are aware but Australia now has the highest obesity rates in the world – obviously reducing total consumption is something that seriously needs to be considered too.