The agriculture sector is a significant global source of greenhouse gas emissions. In 2019, the United Nations suggested eating less meat was a key step in lowering such emissions – especially beef. But while the sector contributes to climate change, it is also an essential component of our food security, biodiversity, and meeting daily nutritional needs. Understanding how beef consumption fits into our fight against climate change requires us to dig into Canada’s cattle industry, how it operates, and how it fits into domestic and global food and ecological systems.

While it’s easy to say “Eat less beef,” there’s more to it than that. To sort out just what that entails, we ask “What do cattle have to do with climate change?”

On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Dr. Tim McAllister, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and host of the podcast Cows on the Planet.