I really struggle with this. I have been a meat eater all my life but have reduced my meat consumption in understanding the impact it will have in the environment.
The reason why reducing the meat we eat will make things better is because of mostly the land take meat production has had. The size of USA could be made back in rain forest from agricultural land if we all stopped eating meat tomorrow. I was alarmed to hear that one burger is equivalent to 20 miles in a car in greenhouse gas emissions!
I have also read that livestock is required to create a mosaic of habitats when delivering conservation work and the best thing to eat is venison as we’re overpopulated with deer in the U.K.
My feeling is that we need to reduce meat consumption as much as possible. What are other people’s views?
Stopping eating meat and dairy requires a lot of will power. Especially if you have grown up embedded in a very carnivorous culture. My experience is that only those with the strongest ethical motivations succeed long term.
Cutting down on the other hand requires much less will power. My son mildly allergic to milk so we started buying oat milk for him. I started substituting it for milk and to be honest, I would say that I prefer it in most cases. Still need can’t make my morning latte though with it though
Similarly, I’m going to have a go at replacing minced beef with some sort of substitute. My mate cooked me a quorn lasagne the other day and it was totally delicious . I suspect that a lot of generic mince dishes could be replaced with some sort of substitute without anyone really noticing.
My thinking is that if everyone cuts down by say 50%, that is the same as 50% of people going full vegan and, to be honest seems more achievable to me.
We do have to completely stop our consumption of all animal products in order to save the planet. I have a degree in wildlife conservation, have looked at the science and it’s scary how much the animal agriculture industry pollutes and gets away with it.
However it’s super easy to eliminate these from your diet these days
Try the 22 day challenge at challenge22.com! Takes 21 days to make or break a habit and you get full and free support, non-judgemental of course and all online highly recommend for helping the planet and animals
I pursue a low meat diet. It’s an occassional treat rather than a staple of every meal. Not everyone is going to go fully vegan but a dramatic reduction in meat and dairy consumption is going to have a significant environmental impact and on animal welfare.
I decided last year that if we were going to continue to eat meat that we had to be able to raise animals and then send them to slaughter. We raised two pigs, fed them on non-GMO feed (no soy, mostly British grown barley, couldn’t get hold of small quantities of organic feed) from May - July and then courgettes grown in the garden, forage and once the apples kicked in they ate copious amounts of those. Friends and neighbours would leave us bags of apples at the end of the drive. The meat is incredible and if I’m shopping, I don’t want to buy pork as I know it won’t be as good and we put a lot of effort into what we’ve got. Then by the time I get home I’m knackered and end up making an omelette (we’ve got ducks for eggs) or beans on toast. So I’m eating less meat! I still buy other meats but only occasionally now. I’m lucky to have the space to be able to do this.
. I suspect that a lot of generic mince dishes could be replaced with some sort of substitute without anyone really noticing.
Try the 22 day challenge at 
highly recommend for helping the planet and animals