"Koreans don’t eat much meat," sounds like it no longer applies to modern Korean society. Of course, as of 2016, Korea still tends to eat less meat than the OECD average, but Koreans' meat intake is rapidly increasing. According to Statistics Korea, Korea's per capita consumption of meat in 2020 increased 4.77 times from 11.3 kilograms in 1980 to 53.9 kilograms in 2018. Advertisements on TV that encourage eating meat are numerous, and in YouTube's popular content, "Mukbang," meat is often the main part of the video as if they are competing to see who can eat more meat. But do you know the fact that the main culprit behind our climate crisis is the livestock industry, and the process of making meat into the food we eat is very unethical? If you become interested in this fact, eating meat will no longer be as pleasant as it used to be. For a sustainable future for everyone, we should reduce how much meat we eat.

           First, we can protect the Earth by reducing how much meat we eat. Meat consumption is closely related to greenhouse gases. Greenpeace Korea says that land use for grazing livestock accounts for about 26 percent of the Earth's surface. Livestock animals emit methane gas, which is much more powerful than carbon dioxide in its ability to trap heat in the atmosphere. "If there is a country that farms cattle, this country ranks third in global greenhouse gas emissions after China and the U.S," said the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. To cope with the climate crisis, we should cut down on meat. The PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency said in 2008, "If the world changed their diet to eat less meat, it could reduce the expected climate costs by up to 80 percent by 2050." Second, reducing the intake of meat can prevent damage to the sanctity of life. Many animals around the world are being raised and slaughtered unethically by the factory farming system. In the case of chicken, according to the Korea Animal Welfare Association, battery cage feeding which is 2/3 size of A4 paper accounts for 97 percent of the domestic egg farms. To maximize productivity, the factory farming system limits chicken movement, reduces feed intake, and uses large amounts of drugs. Eating beings lower on the food chain is natural, but this unethical system cannot be justified by such words. As many people as possible need to reduce their meat consumption and learn of the problems with this unethical process under the mass production system. Third, it is good for your health to reduce eating meat. It is well known that excessive meat intake is the main cause of various adult diseases such as obesity, arteriosclerosis, and high blood pressure. In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer under World Health Organization (WHO) classified processed meat as a class one carcinogen and red meat as probable carcinogens. WHO warned in 2002 that excessive meat consumption could cause cancer and recommended a dietary guideline that cuts down on meat for the U.S with the highest per capita meat intake in the world. Korea should now also listen to these warnings and guidelines.

In fact, many people may be aware of the negative effects of the meat diet on individuals and society. Many people will think, "It's better to reduce meat-eating if possible." However, the problem is that such thought does not lead to practice. It is not as easy as we think to put thought into practice due to some reasons such as the pleasure of the table, or the convenience of menu choice. However, reducing meat-eating is a must-do task in terms of the environment and human health, beyond the ethical problem of ‘the sadistic use of animals.’ Stay away for a while from the praise for the meat diet in the media. It's time to consider about how what we eat came to us and whether the process is ethical and eco-friendly. Remind that not eating meat for one or two days a week is better than nothing, and much easier than going full vegetarian.