Substitute beef with poultry or seafood sometimes
Beef is a big contributor to climate change, but its unfortunately also delicious. Fortunately, you don't have to be a vegetarian or give up beef to make an impact. Beef has 10x the footprint of poultry, so just sometimes having chicken instead is a meaningful change
How this lowers your footprint
- Pound for pound, beef produces about 10 times the emissions of other meats like chicken.
- Because the gap is so large, swapping even a couple of beef meals a week cuts more than most other food changes.
How this increases your handprint
- Showing a positive mindset about eating less beef makes it more approachable for the people you know.
- Seeing your change has an impact on others. In one study, telling people that more Americans are starting to eat less meat led more of them to order a meatless lunch.
- Grow your handprint: When friends come over, cook a favorite that doesn't use beef, or pass along a recipe that worked for you.
I’ll be honest — I love a good burger as much as anyone. But beef also happens to be one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions from food, nearly 10x more than other meats like chicken or fish. Since the difference is so substantial, swapping beef for chicken or seafood once or twice a week gets you most of the benefit without having to give up the foods you enjoy.
Beef creates roughly ten times more emissions than poultry and several times more than seafood. When you think about how often it shows up on menus or dinner tables, those small swaps really start to add up. Your swaps also rub off on the people around you. In one café study, telling customers that more Americans are starting to eat less meat doubled the number of meatless lunches ordered.
This doesn't mean that beef is "bad" or that we all need to stop eating it altogether. I like to think about it as giving beef more respect. Instead of getting fast food burgers with easy alternatives, I'll have beef when it really counts, like ordering a good steak every so often.
Doing this has also unlocked some new foods I may not have tried otherwise. Sometimes I’ll do shredded chicken tacos instead of ground beef, or make turkey meatballs for pasta night. I’ve been hooked on salmon burgers lately and they are quick to cook and still feel like comfort food.
Over time, I’ve realized it’s not about perfection, but about small changes that actually stick. And this one’s simple: you don’t have to stop eating meat to make a meaningful impact. Just eat a little less beef, and you’re already helping move things in the right direction.
See this article for great ideas: Cooking Substitutions: How to Swap Meat, Poultry, & Seafood (Cook Smarts)
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