2024 March Board Book

"We're trying to come up with a solution to reduce methane that is easily accessible and inexpensive," Matthias Hess, an associate professor at UC Davis and a project lead, said in an interview. It's a fx that, if successful, could make a serious dent in tamping down cattle emissions the world over. Their mission launched earlier this year, funded by the TED Audacious Project. Along with livestock, microbiomes generate nearly two-thirds of global methane emissions through landflls, wastewater, and rice paddies. If successful, "our technology could really move the needle in our fght against climate change," Doudna said in a recent TED Talk. Even as science tries making cows more climate-friendly, the tide of consumption has seen a steady shift. In the last two years, the majority of Americans have upped their intake of plant-based foods, with almost half of millennials and Gen Z-ers regularly eating vegan. But there's also been another notable tip in the scale: Just 12 percent of the country eats half the nation's beef. And for many in the meat-heavy minority, the perils of climate change seem to do little in nudging them toward planet-friendlier meals. A global study of factors that encourage greener diets found that climate risk perception is but one infuencing factor, along with health implications and economic circumstances. Yet it's the people around us, said Sibel Eker, the report's lead author, who hold the most sway in changing individual attitudes, beliefs, and values — in other words, there's power in herd mentality. "If there are more vegetarians or fexitarians around you, you tend to think that this is the norm in society," said Eker, a sustainable service systems researcher at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria. "So if you have the intention of changing your behavior, the social cost [to do so] becomes lower." In fact, when it comes to infuencing environment-related behaviors such as recycling and ditching cars, social norms and comparisons are incredibly effective, far outpacing other drivers such as fnancial incentives and public appeals, according to a separate study by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. And positive visibility and reinforcement — by individuals, a community, or mass and social media — do more to encourage climate action than shaming people who aren't fully on board, Eker said. Otherwise, it just makes the matter alienating and polarizing. In the end, the overarching nature of the food system requires a collective approach to shrinking its enormous emissions. While there's no denying the outsized environmental footprint of animal-based foods, dietary shifts are part of a much larger strategy around food-based climate action, said the EPA's Sturdivant. Along with improved farming practices such as maximizing yields and minimizing inputs, reducing food loss and waste is just as critical. And for these reasons and more, meatless Mondays, vegan Fridays, and less polluting cows all have their place in mitigating the role cattle play in warming the world. This story was produced by Grist and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media. Gregory Urquiaga // UC Davis / Grist

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