When you bite into a hamburger or enjoy a pile of roast asparagus, do you think about the impact it has on the environment? Well, maybe you should.

See, the food that we eat has an incredible impact on climate change. In fact, agriculture is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane. What foods we choose to buy, howwe choose to purchase them and how often we consume them matter to global warming.

And not all foods have an equal impact.

Livestock and their byproductsaccount forat least 32,000 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year, or51percentof all worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. And agriculture is responsible for80-90percentof all United States water consumption. That’s crazy!

Here are the top five offenders.

5 Foods with Huge Carbon Footprints

In 2011, CleanMetrics Corp., a Portland, Oregon-based environmental firm, published a report called “The Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change & Health.” Based on that report, these foods are the most ‘environmentally impactful’ based on their greenhouse gas emissions. (Be sure to check out their methodology in the report itself.)

Each of these foods was studied from a variety of angles: emissions produced before a product leaves the farm (i.e. use of fertilizer and pesticides, irrigation, impact of animal feed) and emissions produced after the product leaves the farm (i.e. food processing, transport, retail, cooking and ultimately waste disposal).

Here are the results, in kilograms of CO2:

1. Lamb – Produces 39.2 kg CO2 during its lifetime.

2. Beef – Produces 27 kg CO2 during its lifetime.

3. Cheese – Produces 13.5 kg CO2 during its lifetime.

4. Pork – Produces 12.1 kg CO2 during its lifetime.

5. Farmed Salmon – Produces 11.9 kg CO2 during its lifetime.

And it’s not just animal products that are the problem.Potatoes produce the most emissions of all protein-rich plants,followed by asparagus, avocados, bananas and eggplant. Most of these require air freight to different parts of the world, because they only grow in warm climates.

What can you do about it?

Every single day, a person who eats a vegan diet saves 1,100 gallons of water, 45 pounds of grain, 30 square feet of forested land, 20 pounds CO2 equivalent and one animals life. That’s seriously convincing!

Here’s what I want you to hear most:food is power.You have an incredible amount of influence in the palm of your hand. What will you do with it?

Reducing (or eliminating) your meat intake hasinnumerable benefits. Youll contribute significantly to the causes of conservation and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, and youll look and feel better in the process.

Here are some tips to get you started:

1. Learn about the impacts of the agriculture industry. Get to know the facts and equip yourself with knowledge.
2. Don’t feel pressure to change your entire diet in one day. Take it bit by bit. Start by eliminating red meat, then chicken.
3. Slowly integrate plant-based meals into your weekly routine. Once you have some recipes you know you can count on, phase out the rest.

Alreadyeating a plant-based diet? Make it a point to shop in season and shop local whenever possible, if not always!

Think you can do it? I know you can!

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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5 Foods with Huge Carbon Footprints