Barry Law Environmental and Earth Law Journal

New York City, the city that never sleeps, is not sleeping on climate change or global warming. On April 22^nd, 2019, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an ambitious $14 billon plan to fight climate change and global warming. The plan is to reach complete carbon neutrality by 2050 [1]. One of the ways the OneNYC 2050 plans to reach this goal is by reducing beef purchase by 50% [2]. 

With the population rising globally, to sustain this population, there has been an increase in the amount of beef being produced. Compared to poultry, pork, and plant-based foods, beef has a higher impact in our environment due to producing nitrous oxide and methane [3]. These are two climate pollutants that are at least 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. Emissions from livestock is currently responsible for 15% global emissions [4]. Beef and diary making up 65% of all livestock emissions [5]. If other cities would follow New York City’s example and cut production of beef by 50%, we could possibly cut global emissions by 5.6%. This percentage is just by eating half the amount of beef people are used to. 

Not only does meat release two extremely dangerous climate pollutants, but it also takes up more space. Compared to vegetables, it is estimated to take 100 times more land to raise cattle than to plant vegetables [6]. Vegetables, instead of creating green house gases like beef, would create oxygen which would benefit our environment. Not only would it benefit our environment, but eating vegetables is substantially healthier than eating beef in a regular diet [7]. 

New York City started implementing a reduction in beef by first having Meatless Mondays in schools [8]. It first started as a trial in 15 schools in Brooklyn [9]. On Monday’s, the school provided an all vegetarian breakfast and lunch to students [10]. After success, it then extended Meatless Mondays to all public schools for the 2019-2020 school year. This was the first step into cutting the production of beef in New York City and giving healthier meals to students. 

The OneNYC 2050 plan wants to extend Meatless Monday’s to reducing beef consumption overall in New York City by 50%. Even though the major has not stated how he will implement a decrease of 50% by 2050, he has many options he can choose from. One option would be through passing laws limiting the amount of beef entering New York City. Of course, this would not be one day from another, rather a reduction in increments until reaching the goal amount of 50%. 

Now you may ask yourself: how can I make a difference in my diet when it comes to beef? Even though all livestock is potentially harmful for the environment, beef is the worse option. An option would be to cut down 50% of the amount of beef you consume and change it for a better option such as poultry. An even better option than poultry would be plant-based food. Plant-based for many may not sound appetizing, but with so much advancement, there is so many options for plant-based substitutes for meat. A great example is the impossible burger from Burger King, which is advertised to taste exactly like the Whooper, but without the beef [11]. It will not only feel amazing to help our environment by changing our diet to eating less beef, but it will also have great health benefits. 

Written by Jessica Salmeron Caban, EELJ Associate Editor