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Hello, everyone.

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(Applause)

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Let's see. OK.

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Today, I want to talk[br]to you all about meat, OK?

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Delicious, tasty, succulent meat.

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(Laughter)

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Now, I've loved meat my whole life.

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My very first favorite food was hot dogs.

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I loved hot dogs.

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And then, when I turned about, like, six,

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I decided, actually, pepperoni pizza[br]is the best food in the world.

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And I still think so. It really is.

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My favorite Chinese food? Hong shao rou.

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(Laughter)

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Amazing! So delicious!

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But despite this love of meat,[br]about two and a half months ago,

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I decided to begin eating a lot less meat,

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and that was partly, you know,[br]for health reasons,

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and partly because I'd always wanted[br]to care more about the animals

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that get killed and turned[br]into bacon, right?

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But it was also because I learned a lot[br]more about the environmental impact

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that my food choices had[br]on the world around me.

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Now, there is possibly nothing more manly

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than cutting into a big,[br]juicy steak, right?

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And I think there's nothing more human.

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Meat has been central[br]to our identity as human beings,

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and central to the development[br]of our human characteristics.

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Meat is what gave us bigger brains.

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It's what gave us smaller guts,

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although I'm still working[br]on mine, I suppose.

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(Laughter)

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It's what allowed us[br]to begin walking on two legs,

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instead of all four limbs.

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Meat is what made us intelligent.

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Cooperative hunting[br]is what helped us develop language,

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our social skills,[br]and again, our intelligence,

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and we have used this intelligence

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to create a world[br]where we can eat a lot of meat.

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In 1900,

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the total mass or weight of all[br]of the domesticated animals in the world,

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meaning cows, horses, pigs, goats, sheep,

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everything you could put in a fence[br]and keep right next to you,

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was four times the weight[br]of all of the wild animals in the world.

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Fast-forward 100 years,

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and the total weight[br]of all domesticated animals in the world

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is 25 times the amount [br]of wild animal mass.

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Our love of meat has transformed the world[br]and will keep transforming it.

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This is because, ever since[br]the end of World War II,

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global incomes have been rising.

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Starting in 1950,

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meat consumption worldwide[br]was equal to 50 million tons.

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Twenty-five years later, that had doubled[br]to more than 110 million tons.

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Another 25 years, it doubled again[br]to 220 million tons of meat

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eaten by everyone.

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Ten years later, another 55 million tons,[br]to 275 million tons,

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totaling an average of about 40 kilos[br]per person around the world.

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Now, that level of meat consumption[br]is not the same everywhere.

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Obviously, the more income a country has[br]the more meat they will eat.

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That's why even before World War II,[br]and especially afterwards,

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America has been the largest consumer[br]of meat for a long time,

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followed by Brazil and Spain.

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Also, developing countries

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that have not yet sort of risen up[br]into developed-country status

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still eat very low quantities of meat.

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African countries like Nigeria and Egypt,

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since the 1940s, have only seen[br]their consumption of meat levels double,

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whereas a country like South Korea,[br]which has become much, much wealthier

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in the decades since World War II,

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has seen its level of meat consumption[br]multiply by 20 times.

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In the next 40 or so years,

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scientists estimate that worldwide[br]consumption of meat will jump up 55%.

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That rise in meat consumption[br]is coming from developing countries

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beginning to eat a lot more meat,

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and hopefully, developed countries[br]slowly tapering off their intake,

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maybe by doing things[br]like what I'm doing right now.

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Every year, we kill 55 billion chickens,

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3 billion ducks and turkeys,[br]1 billion sheep and goats,

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300 million cattle.

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In America alone,

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we kill 24 million chickens[br]every single day.

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Now, this is a lot of meat,

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and we are going to keep creating[br]more and more of it to kill.

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Take China, for instance.

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China, in 1961, [br]had the average per capita rate

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of less than four kilos per person.

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Fifty years later, it had risen[br]to 57.5 kilograms per person

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of meat intake in one year.

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Researchers estimate that, by 2030,

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China's intake of meat will rise[br]to 90 kilos per person,

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two-thirds of that being pork.

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And with all of this meat[br]being eaten in the world,

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it takes up a lot of resources.

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One kilo of meat requires[br]a whole lot of land and crops

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to support that meat.

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One kilo of beef requires[br]up to 50 square meters of land,

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to produce the crops necessary[br]to feed that cow.

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One kilo of pork requires[br]up to 12 square meters of land.

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One kilo of chicken requires[br]up to ten square meters of land.

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Now, we are rapidly running out of land[br]to feed all of these animals

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that we so ravenously want to eat.

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One quarter of all of the continental[br]surface that doesn't have ice

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is already taken up by livestock raising,[br]meaning cows and other animals,

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eating grass and wandering[br]around pastures and meadows.

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It's the same amount of land[br]that is devoted to forests,

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or at least, hopefully, will still be[br]remaining forests in the future.

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One-third of all arable -[br]made suitable for farming -

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one-third of all arable lands right now[br]is devoted to feed crops,

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meaning crops that we grow specifically[br]to feed the meat that we want to eat.

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In total, humans devote[br]eight times more land

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to feeding the animals [br]that we want to eat

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than we do to feeding ourselves.

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Now, this brings us to South America.

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China is running out of land

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to feed its insatiable appetite for meat.

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As I already mentioned,[br]China's meat consumption

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is about 60 kilos per person[br]per year right now,

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and two-thrids of that is devoted to pork.

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Now, Chinese pigs do not have[br]enough land available in China

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to grow the soybeans[br]or the corn that feed those pigs,

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which means that China[br]has to import all of this food

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to feed the pigs that it wants to eat.

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And a lot of that food[br]comes from South America.

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China buys one half[br]of the global market for soybean,

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and it buys one-fifth[br]of all the corn made in the world.

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It buys that soybean from countries[br]like Argentina, Chile, Brazil.

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And one of the rapidly rising problems[br]that the world is facing

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is that a lot of that land,

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which is slowly being [br]turned into crop land

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to produce soy to feed the pigs[br]that are in China,

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is right now rain forest.

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And so, deforestation is when rain forests[br]and other forests are cleared

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in order to turn it into crop land[br]that can feed these animals.

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And rain forests deforestation,[br]in particular, is very dangerous

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because the rain forests are a sponge

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for the greenhouse gases[br]that create global warming.

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Right now,

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the meat that we eat

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creates more soybean,[br]which creates less rain forests,

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which creates more greenhouse gases,

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which create hotter temperatures[br]and weirder weather for all of us.

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Now, let's talk about [br]the other feed crop, right?

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Remember, there are two feed crops:[br]soybeans and corn.

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Soybeans are grown[br]for the protein to feed these pigs.

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Corn is grown for carbohydrates,

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and almost all of the world's corn[br]is grown in America.

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Now, American-made corn

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is tremendously productive,

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and the reason it's so productive[br]is because we pour lots and lots of oil,

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and gasoline, and fertilizer [br]into that land

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to create these amazing amounts of corn.

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It takes about 50 gallons of oil[br]to create one acre of corn,

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and all of that oil is used[br]to build fertilizer.

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Fertilizer's magic ingredient is nitrogen.

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Now, nitrogen is not very good[br]for the environment

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in really large quantities,

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and those are the quantities[br]that we are feeding our lands.

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When nitrogen seeps into the soil,

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it can enter our drinking water supply,

0:11:10.753,0:11:15.503
and that can be harmful for our health,[br]especially the health of little children.

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However, the real problem[br]with nitrogen and water pollution

0:11:20.254,0:11:25.434
is when nitrogen leaks into the soil[br]and travels down into a river,

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and travels down that river[br]and enters the ocean,

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and enters shallow coastal waters,

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like the Gulf of Mexico.

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A huge portion of the nitrogen in America

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has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico,

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creating what's called eutrophication,

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and eutrophication is what happens[br]when nitrogen enters water

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and creates a massive growth of algae,[br]these big algae blooms.

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And when all of that algae[br]enters a huge space in water,

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it sucks up all of the oxygen,

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leaving what are called hypoxic dead zones[br]where fish cannot breathe

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and where all of the fish[br]and the sea life in that region dies.

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And what America's amazing and incredible[br]sort of industrial factory farming

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has done to the water [br]in the Gulf of Mexico

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has created a hypoxic dead zone[br]that is as big as the state of New Jersey.

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Now, that's not the only[br]sort of euthophication

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that's happening in the globe.

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Eutrophication is happening all over,[br]and it is a rising problem.

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Next, I want to talk about meat[br]production's effects on the atmosphere,

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on greenhouse gases and global warming.

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Every kilo of meat, as we've seen,

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has a particular price that we pay [br]to the environment.

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Beef, in particular, [br]is the most expensive.

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Now, meat production is responsible[br]for three primary greenhouse gases:

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carbon dioxide, which, hopefully,[br]you are all aware of;

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methane, which is produced[br]when cows burp and fart out,

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(Laughter)

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after eating lots and lots of grass[br]or, nowadays, corn -

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Methane is 21 times more poisonous[br]than carbon dioxide.

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Nitrous oxide is created[br]from animal manure

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and from these nitrogen fertilizers[br]leaking into the soil and the atmosphere.

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Nitrous oxide is even more[br]poisonous than methane.

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Nitrous oxide is 310 times[br]more dangerous for the environment

0:13:50.174,0:13:52.048
than carbon dioxide.

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Now, altogether,[br]meat production produces 10%

0:13:56.953,0:14:00.154
of all carbon dioxide[br]emissions worldwide.

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It creates 40% of all of the released[br]methane into the environment,

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nearly two-thirds of all human-caused[br]emissions of nitrous oxide.

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Altogether, this means [br]that meat production

0:14:11.405,0:14:17.908
is the second highest leading cause[br]of greenhouse gases,

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accounting for one-fifth of all[br]greenhouse gases produced in 2004,

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and it's rising every year.

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This is more than the greenhouse gases[br]produced by all of transportation,

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meaning planes, trains, automobiles,[br]trucks, ships combined.

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Let's look at American cows in particular.

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Now, American cows produce[br]more greenhouse gases

0:14:41.879,0:14:45.887
than 22 million cars on the road per year.

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And American cows produce[br]that many greenhouse gases

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because Americans eat a lot of beef.

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The average American eats[br]about three hamburgers per week,

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which equals 156 hamburgers per year,

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which, if you multiply[br]by the population of America,

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means that Americans going[br]to McDonald's, and Wendy's,

0:15:08.371,0:15:12.033
and Burger King, and all the other[br]delicious restaurants that we have

0:15:12.429,0:15:16.221
are eating 40 billion hamburgers per year,

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and those 40 billion hamburgers are[br]exacting a huge toll on our environment.

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Every single quarter-pounder that we eat[br]needs 100 gallons of water,

0:15:27.552,0:15:30.844
1.2 pounds of grain, 1 cup of gasoline,

0:15:30.844,0:15:35.057
and creates 1.5 pounds of topsoil,

0:15:35.057,0:15:38.744
meaning the best kind of soil[br]for the most fertile crops,

0:15:38.744,0:15:41.203
that is lost due to erosion.

0:15:42.023,0:15:45.402
All of these sort of economic ingredients

0:15:45.402,0:15:48.743
pay a big price when it comes[br]to the environment.

0:15:48.743,0:15:51.334
Every quarter-pounder hamburger

0:15:51.334,0:15:56.728
accounts for about 6.5 pounds[br]of carbon dioxide equivalents.

0:15:57.523,0:16:01.723
That means that Americans'[br]massive hamburger habit -

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we've got to have it! -

0:16:03.193,0:16:06.844
three hamburgers per week,[br]again, multiplied every American,

0:16:06.844,0:16:09.825
means that American hamburger habit

0:16:10.407,0:16:15.203
is the cause of about 158 million tons[br]of greenhouse gases

0:16:15.203,0:16:17.735
released into the atmosphere every year,

0:16:17.735,0:16:22.346
which is equal to 34 coal-fired[br]power plants running year-round.

0:16:22.346,0:16:27.074
Now, that is a big figure,[br]and that's all because of what we eat.

0:16:28.474,0:16:33.279
So now, I want to talk to you a little bit[br]about what you can do about this.

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So, the reason I'm giving this talk

0:16:36.507,0:16:39.428
is because, a couple of months ago,[br]I started reading a book.

0:16:39.428,0:16:42.007
You know, I'm not a scientist,[br]I'm not an expert.

0:16:42.007,0:16:45.119
I'm just someone who's very hungry[br]and wanted to read about it.

0:16:45.119,0:16:46.317
(Laughter)

0:16:46.317,0:16:47.367
Alright?

0:16:47.367,0:16:51.020
It turns out that if you reduce -

0:16:51.020,0:16:53.720
let's say you eat two hamburgers a week.

0:16:53.720,0:16:59.089
If you start switching to a diet[br]of only one hamburger per week,

0:16:59.089,0:17:05.690
you are saving the equivalent of about[br]350 miles of one car taken off the road,

0:17:05.690,0:17:07.665
for a whole [year].

0:17:09.480,0:17:14.509
If all of us make the decision[br]to reduce our meat intake,

0:17:14.509,0:17:16.930
we can all make a difference.

0:17:16.930,0:17:21.439
I have decided to drop[br]my sort of meat intake

0:17:21.439,0:17:26.891
from 12 meals every week[br]to about four meals every week.

0:17:26.891,0:17:31.179
I can't give up meat[br]because it's way too good, right?

0:17:31.602,0:17:36.529
However, every small little choice[br]that we make matters.

0:17:36.529,0:17:38.384
I want to leave you with a quote,

0:17:38.384,0:17:41.192
by an American writer, poet,[br]and environmental activist

0:17:41.192,0:17:43.173
named Wendell Berry.

0:17:43.173,0:17:46.852
He says that "eating [br]is an agricultural act."

0:17:46.852,0:17:49.073
What he means by that

0:17:49.073,0:17:53.053
is that every decision we make[br]about what we are eating

0:17:53.053,0:17:56.445
affects what the farmers grow and produce.

0:17:56.445,0:17:58.994
It affects what[br]the restaurants serve to us.

0:17:58.994,0:18:02.568
It affects what our mom[br]will cook us for dinner, right?

0:18:03.164,0:18:07.422
Eating is a political act.

0:18:07.803,0:18:11.768
We can vote with our mouth[br]and with our stomachs,

0:18:12.403,0:18:18.224
and by choosing to eat less meat,[br]we can make the world a better place.

0:18:18.224,0:18:21.895
So, please, I would love it[br]if all of you guys left today thinking,

0:18:21.895,0:18:26.343
"OK, when I go to McDonald's,[br]I'm not going to choose the hamburger.

0:18:26.343,0:18:28.917
Instead, I'll choose the apple pies."

0:18:28.917,0:18:30.608
(Laughter)

0:18:30.608,0:18:32.187
Those are delicious.

0:18:32.566,0:18:36.067
Or, when you're out[br]at a restaurant with friends,

0:18:36.067,0:18:40.053
and you're all sharing a couple[br]of meat dishes and some veggie dishes,

0:18:40.053,0:18:45.267
switch out one of the pork dishes[br]for another vegetable dish.

0:18:45.668,0:18:50.283
Every little decision that we make[br]has an effect on the world.

0:18:51.407,0:18:57.877
So, together, let's eat better[br]and let's make the world a better place.

0:18:57.877,0:18:59.148
Alright. Thank you.

0:18:59.148,0:19:00.549
(Applause)