Ph.D. Employing many factors, the authors compared choices and charted them in order of their findings with regard to what are the most consumptive in terms of energy use, water, pollution, etc. They document them in this small, easy to read and understand, guide available through Green River Press. High on the list is both driving, particularly SUVs, and feeding ourselves.
Food production requires high volumes of energy, water and land.
But as Brower and Leon point out, the raising of meat products, e.g., beef, pork, lamb, and poultry rates extremely high compared to the raising of fruits and vegetables. Several years ago I conducted some research and came up with some startling figures on just beef alone. While little attention is given to this subject and the massive negative impact it has on the environment if we were to stop eating meat the positive impact could be enormous. The sad story is that corporate behavior involving the manufacture of large ticket items such as planes, missles, etc., and trade policies, all things largely out of our control, is most to blame for our environmental problems. Yet we, as private citizens, are manuipulated by the media to bear the brunt of responsibility for wrong-doing and wander around trying to 'fix' things.