Kelsey Roche

My diet is impacting deforestation because of the land needed to grow coffee. Exploitative coffee leads to deforestation. Sun-grown coffee plants are causing rainforests to be cut down in order to grow coffee beans. Farmers are also only focusing on growing one type of coffee which can lower biodiversity in areas and cause more disease to the plants. Spreading awareness about coffee causing deforestation can help in small ways with our community. I have been more careful to select coffee that is aware of their problem and trying to fix it. Certified coffee is usually the better option when I decide to buy coffee. Rainforest Alliance Certified, for example, means that the coffee is focusing on the ecological effects and growing the coffee more sustainable. More certifications like this help people make the conscious decision to buy sustainably farmed coffee. 

The cost of production for meat is much higher than produce. We have the ability to grow crops in our backyard at a much cheaper and easier rate than meat. Growing a cow, chicken, or pig can be much more challenging. Rich people can afford the high prices of meat. Since the less fortunate cannot, they can choose to grow their own food in their backyard. This is usually why richer countries eat more meat as compared to other places. Eating more meat affects our body's health. Eating red meat can increase your chances of having a heart attack, stroke, or diabetes. Processed meat can do cause the same problems when eating it. The over-consumption of meat causes us to become obese; it isn't natural to eat such high amounts of protein. The meat industry is a major factor in our environmental degradation because of the pollution is creates. Transporting meat across the world releases billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. The meat industry is also a reason for droughts. Our water shortage is worsening from the produce and water needed for our cattle just to be slaughtered to eat. Every calorie of meat uses 8x more water than a calorie of produce. Pollution and our water shortage are huge factors as to why our earth is becoming damaged from us through our meat production. If humans cut down their usage of meat, they would be helping their health and the health of the environment.