How our diet and climate change are interconnected

Diet and Climate Change – What  (and how) we eat matters

I came across this article in Vox that explores how our diet choices affect climate change.  While the article is focused on the impacts around industrial beef production and greenhouse gas emissions, there are important questions to consider beyond whether to eat beef or not.

A lot of people count calories, or try to cut carbs from their diet — the next step could be cutting carbon from your diet.

Ben Houlton, a researcher at the University of California, is studying our food system and its impacts global warming.  After discussing the environmental costs of beef production and agriculture as a whole, he provides some practical advice:

Put your health first. Be really selfish about your health. Make healthy choices in terms of the food you’re putting into your body and watch the planet repair itself at the same time.

The video below from UCLA goes into more detail and adds more support for local food, responsible farming, and how each of us can make a difference.

Check out the Vox article and then check out more of the research at climate.universityofcalifornia.edu.