Week 1

This week has been very interesting for me. I had forgotten the I begged my mom on Sunday to get me honey ham from the store so that I could make lunches for school. So on Monday when I came to class and was told that I was going to have to start this project that day I was heartbroken because I couldn't eat my honey ham. The second I got home I made myself a sandwich while telling myself that it was ok to break it that one day because I couldn't let my moms money go to waste. I put my mayo on the bread and cut myself some cheese and lettuce then went back to the fridge to get the ham AND IT WAS GONE! My sister and mother ate it all! In 2 days! I was so upset and on top of that I could just throw away the halfway made sandwich that I had already made so I had to eat lettuce and cheese. It was a sad day for me. The rest of the week went by smoothly but I did question why I couldn't eat the meat the was already in my house and pre-bought.

Currently, I would consider myself a heavy meat eater meaning that I eat meat or a meat based product with every meal. According to this website by Brad Plumer(1) being a heavy meat eater I produce about 15.8 pounds of CO2 per day but with going vegetarian I would cut back the amount of CO2 to 8.4 pounds of CO2 by being vegan it would reduce the amount of CO2 to 6.4 pounds. Being vegan or vegetarian already helps the planet in a major way. Just meat and dairy alone cause 60% of the greenhouse gases that come from agriculture(2) alone. So by taking meat and dairy out of your life you would be contributing to the amount of methane that is being produced.

Before this I have never had an urge to want to cut meat out of my life. I didn't really look at the environmental impact that it was more of eating it because I liked it and everyone else in my family ate it. I have known that there was a reason that our earth was dying but I have basically just relied on scientist to figure it out then tell us that we needed to not eat meat. I was also in the mindset that I should just eat it because it was already in front of me and it would be weird not to eat it if it has already been cooked.

1.)Plumer, Brad. “Going Vegetarian Can Cut Your Food Carbon Footprint in Half.” Vox.com, Vox Media, 13 June 2016, www.vox.com/2014/7/2/5865109/study-going-vegetarian-could-cut-your-food-carbon-footprint-in-half.

Petter, Olivia. “Going Vegan Is 'Single Biggest Way' to Reduce Our Impact on the Planet, Study Finds.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 29 Aug. 2018, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/veganism-environmental-impact-planet-reduced-plant-based-diet-humans-study-a8378631.html.

2.) Petter, Olivia. “Going Vegan Is 'Single Biggest Way' to Reduce Our Impact on the Planet, Study Finds.” The Independent, Independent Digital News and Media, 29 Aug. 2018, www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/veganism-environmental-impact-planet-reduced-plant-based-diet-humans-study-a8378631.html.