This is MPR's Life Kit. I'm Maria Gadoi in this episode. How do we eat less meat so you can help the environment and your diet?

If that feels like a big ask, you can actually start pretty small. We're going to start with a yes or no question.

Do you need to cut out all the meat in your diet to make an environmental impact?

No you don't.

That's Rich Wait. He's a senior research associate in the Food Program at the World Resources Institute. He's going to walk us through the environmental impact of meat production and consumption.

And seriously, you don't have to become vegan or vegetarian to make an impact. Even Rich, who knows all the research, says he still eats meat.

I am an omnivore. I eat pretty much everything.

When thinking about meat consumption, Rich says we want to cut back on the most resource-intensive meats. Those are the animals that take the most land to grow and feed, which means beef and lamb.

So while we're not telling you to cut out meat altogether, we are going to help you rethink your relationship to meat. Think abundance, not lack.

And so I always tell people to think about what you're gaining.

That's Tracy McQuirter, Public Health Nutritionist and Author.

So once Rich gives us all the environmental facts, Tracy is going to help us actually put all the information into action with tips for eating a more plant-based diet.

That's really a mindset shift, I think, for people to think about what they're gaining rather than what they're missing out on.

And if you're feeling discouraged or unsure if your personal consumption can really make an impact, remember this.

Well, it all adds up because there's, you know, almost 8 billion people on the planet today and there's going to probably be about 10 billion of us on the planet by 2050.

So you can do your part.

When we talk about the environmental impact of meat production, why is it that it does have such a big environmental footprint?

How much is beef production a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions?

Well, the food system as a whole, when you're looking at agriculture and deforestation, contributes about a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions.

And animal agriculture contributes about 14.5%.

And within that, beef production is about 40% of those animal agricultural emissions.

So it's about 6% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

...