Do your favourite meals include beef, such as Spaghetti Bolognese or a burger? Beef has the highest carbon footprint of all meat because it is the main cause of deforestation in the world and the main reason for the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Cows also produce methane when they digest food, which is another greenhouse gas and heats up the atmosphere faster than carbon dioxide. Ideally, beef should be avoided and only eaten occasionally. But what if beef is part of your favourite meals? There are a few ways you can cut down the ingredient instead of giving up on your favourite dishes.

Use a mixture of beef and other ingredients

One way of reducing the carbon footprint of meals with beef is to not use as much beef and add more vegetables. This can be done in pasta sauces such as Bolognese sauces, by increasing the ratio of vegetables to beef. It is possible to reduce the amount of beef you use in burgers and meatballs by using half beef and half pork or another vegetable like mushrooms. This will cut the carbon footprint of the dish very significantly because beef will have the highest carbon footprint out of all the ingredients by a long way.

Choose lower impact beef

Beef that has lower impact on climate change is meat from dairy cows. Dairy cows produce milk as well as beef and not all cows are dairy cows. Also, if you are shopping for beef, buy beef that has been produced in your country or close by to your country. Avoid buying South American beef as much as possible. South American beef is particularly high in carbon emissions because tropical rainforest is cut down to graze cattle. It is the main reason for the shrinking of the Amazon rainforest. It is so bad that some supermarket chains have banned selling products with Brazilian beef, such as Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Auchan France, Carrefour Belgium and the Netherlands largest supermarket chain, Albert Heijn.

Use plant-based meat

There are many plant-based meat brands that produce meatless beef mince, meatless steak and meatless burgers. These options are widely available in supermarkets and online.

Alternative meat substitutes for beef

Other ways to enjoy your favourite meals is to substitute beef for chicken, pork, fish or vegetables. If you see alternative options to a beef burger in a restaurant, such as a chicken burger, fish burger or a veggie burger, they will all have a lower carbon footprint than a beef burger. Also using pork, chicken or turkey mince instead of beef mince will greatly reduce your carbon footprint. It is estimated that swapping beef mince for chicken mince would reduce the carbon footprint of spaghetti Bolognese by 75%.