If you have HBO, watch this episode of Vice:

Meat Is Murder — On the Climate, Anyway

For us, not eating meat has as much to do with our health as it is about the environment. Make no mistake about it, our consumption of meat is a big example of how we’re killing the planet.

For me, I just can’t fathom how someone could go to the drive through on the way home from church. I don’t get how someone could say they’re an environmentalist and a meat eater.

In this episode of Vice the focus is the damage that industrial meat production is doing to our planet. The episode points to farm to table meat production as a better way.

I get it, not eating meat isn’t on the table for a lot of people because their mind tells them no way. Renee and I were the same way. But we’re coming up on 1 year of being plantarians. We don’t miss meat at all. Not only do we not miss it, we’re eating better than ever. I look forward to meals now. Our food tastes freaking great. So if anyone thinks they can’t not eat meat, call me.

I agree, getting your meat from a source such as our friends Rose and Brook LeVan at Sustainable Settings is much better than buying meat at the grocery. But that’s only a solution for a few people.  Because let’s face it, not everyone has the means to pay more for meat (their meat isn’t cheap) or has the luxury of living within a reasonable driving distance to a source such as Sustainable Settings.

The missing story about grass fed meat is that it doesn’t scale. And, that it’s actually worse for the planet than factory farming. Grass fed meat requires land for the animals to graze on – lots of it. The land requires water – lots of it. Here’s a few sources that point out that grass fed meat is less sustainable than factory farming:

Cowspiracy – The Facts

Why Organic, Grass-Fed Livestock is Not as ‘Sustainable’ as You Might Think

The Truth About Grassfed Beef

Talking about caring for the planet, talking about how we’re concerned about climate change, buying LED lightbulbs, driving a Prius, being green, attending conferences, sporting save the environment bumper stickers while eating meat is talking out the side of the our mouths.

So let’s quit kidding ourselves. If we’re going to keep eating meat than we need to admit that we’ve given up all hope of saving the planet and have resigned ourselves to what we believe is the inevitable – the planet is toast. Or, if climate change is important, saving the planet for future generations is important — not just saving it but creating a better planet for our children’s children — we need to quit eating meat. Pick one, we can’t have both. We can’t have our meat and the planet too.