Test Your Earth-Friendly Eating Knowledge

It ain’t easy been green, especially if you can’t see yourself giving up those juicy steaks and burgers. Most of the times, we forget the far-reaching consequences of something as inconsequential as what we pack for lunch or what we eat at a restaurant.

But what would you do if you knew just how much of an impact that take-out sushi has o our ocean, or the milk you drink on our natural land? Individual knowledge is the first step to global change. Take this quick true and false quiz to see how much you know about your own food.

When you are finished, check your answers at the end of the quiz and educate yourself on what goes inside your body.

1. TRUE OR FALSE? Automobile vehicles are the number one cause of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.

2. TRUE OR FALSE? Only 4.5% of the total U.S. landmass is dedicated to vegetable and fruit-based agriculture.

3. TRUE OR FALSE? The global popularity of sushi is driving the blue fin tuna to the brink of extinction.

4. TRUE OR FALSE? Meat should only be about 10% of your overall food intake.

5. TRUE OR FALSE? Milk is not your best source of calcium.

6. TRUE OR FALSE? A typical meal roughly travels 22,000 miles to get to your plate.

7. TRUE OR FALSE? It takes five times more energy to produce a pound of meat than a pound of veggie protein, like tofu.

8. TRUE OR FALSE? Vegetarians do not get as much protein as meat-eaters, so have unbalanced diets.

9. TRUE OR FALSE? Health is the number one reason people switch to a vegetarian diet.

10. TRUE OR FALSE? Vegetarians are not allowed to eat eggs.

CORRECT ANSWERS

1. FALSE

The number one culprit is not automobiles, but livestock, which accounts for 18% of greenhouse gases. Not only are the gases coming from cow flatulence (seriously) deadly, there is also the collateral damage of deforestation from pastures, fertilizer for feed crops, and energy to run meatpacking plants. Long story short: when you cut down on meat, you cut down on greenhouse gas.

2. FALSE

4.5%? More like 0.45%. For comparison, 26% of total land area is used for livestock. This means in America, the space used for livestock farmland is almost 60 times larger than vegetable and fruit based farmland. Not good for our health or our environment.

3. TRUE

The blue fin tuna population is only 10% of the total population it was at1960. With the rise in both sushi consumption and global population, the future for the blue fin tuna looks bleak.

4. TRUE

In reality, meat makes up about 40% of most Americans’ diet. This means most Americans are eating four times more meat than they really need to. Consider this the next time you look at your meal and divide it into tenths. Meat should only be one-tenth of your meal; how many tenths is it really taking up?

5. TRUE

Forget, for a moment, all those “Milk does a body good” magazine ads. Consider almonds, leafy salad greens, carrot juice and kale to be your go-to foods for calcium. The less dependent we are on cows, the better it is for us and the planet at large.

6. TRUE

Consider that it takes over 5,000 miles to get from Los Angeles to Tokyo. Now multiply that by four and that is the number of miles all the various ingredients on your plate of food have probably traveled just to feed you. Multiply that by the number of meals you eat a day, and 365 days of the year that you eat, and you get a whole lot of food miles just for one individual on this earth.

7. FALSE

Meat takes eight times more energy to produce a single pound of edible material than veggie protein. This means if the whole world became vegetarian, we would be consuming eight times less energy to produce our food.

8. FALSE

Just like the calcium myth that calcium only comes from milk, protein does not come only from meat. Vegetarians can easily get their protein from soy such as tofu and tempeh and also beans, legumes, quinoa, nuts, seeds and dark leafy greens.

9. TRUE

Just because animal rights and environmentalism aren’t at the top of your life priorities doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be a vegetarian. You can simply want to life a healthier, longer life by cutting out meat and eating more greens.

10. FALSE

That depends on your definition of a vegetarian. Lacto-vegetarians include dairy products in their diet. Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat both dairy and egg products. Pesco-vegetarians still eat fish but no land animals. Vegans completely eliminate dairy, eggs, honey, and may go as far to eliminate leather, wool and silk from their personal belongings. The main point is: there is more than one way to eat healthier and greener, and you can take your vegetarianism as far as you are personally comfortable with.