Food for Thought: The Impact of Meat on our Environment

Ishani Agrawal, 10th grade

11/25/2025

The phrase “you are what you eat” is a common reminder to watch what you eat for the benefit of your own health. But what happens when what you eat might be healthy for you, but at the same time is hurting the environment? 

The agriculture and meat industries are often overlooked when thinking about ways to decrease our carbon footprint. This is partly because of the everpresent nature of meat in our diets. Eating meat is even a social activity through barbecues and cookouts.  

As the environmental crisis on our planet gets worse, the meat industry has only been growing. According to Our World in Data, for the past 65 years, the yearly number of animals slaughtered for meat has been rapidly increasing, especially for poultry. In 2023, approximately 76.25 billion chickens were slaughtered for meat consumption, a number that has only been rising. 

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So, although our world has yet to address this issue on a large scale, let’s look at some of the reasons why the harmful impacts meat industry needs to be acknowledged:

1. Deforestation

The meat industry is the single leading cause of deforestation globally. In fact, it is estimated that roughly seven football fields of land are cleared or burned every single minute to make space for animal agriculture. All this land is cleared to make space for the millions of animals that make up this industry. 

Deforestation has a drastic impact on the biosphere as it reduces biodiversity and disrupts the delicate food chain of a region, an action with lasting consequences. Not only that, but trees sequester huge amounts of carbon, meaning cutting them down releases immense amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, further contributing to our planet’s warming.

2. Water Pollution

The meat industry is also a leading contributor to water pollution. Animal farming results in extreme amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen rich waste produced by animals. That waste is oftentimes inadequately stored or cleaned, resulting in contaminated water seeping into groundwater or flowing in other bodies of water. 

This pollution can cause algae blooms, subsequently leading to mass fish die-offs, affecting the homeostatic conditions. Additionally, when the water mixes with groundwater, it inadvertently contaminates soil in the vicinity, resulting in polluted plants and abnormal growth.

3. Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Many people focus more on cars, planes, and fossil fuels when discussing greenhouse gas emissions, but what we eat and it was produced is also a significant contributor.

Animal agriculture contributes an estimated 14.5% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, and the agriculture sector, specifically raising livestock, is the largest generator of methane gas emissions. Cows alone emit at least 231 billion pounds of methane each year, a significant increase to the acceptable amount of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.

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In summary, animal agriculture has unprecedented effects on our planet, many of which have lasting consequences. So, although meat has an important role in the human diet and can have positive health and social impacts, it is important to gauge if it is truly worth it. Is that one hamburger worth the deforestation, pollution, and greenhouse gases to make it?