Take out the meat

Wise Words: meat

Paul Young confused many people in the 80s when he seemed to sing about meat to a romantic-sounding melody:

Every time you go away
You take a piece of meat with you (Listen on YouTube )

Why would someone want to take meat with them, his confused fans asked? They soon learned that he wasn’t singing about meat at all. They’d misheard the lyrics. He was singing something romantic after all.

Every time you go away
You take a piece of me with you

Last week, another singer called Paul announced that he would actually like to take the meat away from us. Sir Paul McCartney is fronting the “meat-free Monday” campaign, which was prompted by a United Nations report that highlighted the effects of livestock on the environment.

“Livestock continues to have a greater impact on climate change than the combined transportation sector," Sir Paul wrote in his invitation to the launch of the campaign. "This industry amounts to a huge 18 per cent of the global warming effect — a terrifying statistic ... Help us to encourage the nation to reduce their meat intake by cutting it out just one day a week.”

Cynics will say that Sir Paul is simply jumping on the green bandwagon, but he does make a valid point. Cows are a major source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas released through flatulence. By reducing the meat in our diet, we’ll reduce methane in the atmosphere —  and slow climate change. Since celebrity-endorsed projects get more publicity than plain statistics from government agencies, his campaign might make a difference. The meat-free recipes from his late wife Linda aren’t bad either.

But if we’re eating less meat, won’t there be more cows around producing methane? Or, are Paul and his friends calling for a cull of the cows that don’t get eaten? That’s not a very appetizing thought. I can drop meat from my diet, but not cheese or milk. Sir Paul, don't dairy cows burp, too?

I suggest Sir Paul should also start talking to farmers about how they can change their cows' diet to reduce their enteric emissions. The Stonyfield Greener Cow Project explains how they’ve managed to do this by feeding their cows a diet high in omega-3 sources, such as alfalfa and flax.

In the meantime, I’m going to suggest that you increase the amount of meat in your life — by beefing up your English vocabulary. Learn some of my favourite meat-filled expressions in the quiz on the next page.