VideoAmericans eat an average of three burgers a week. What is that habit costing us?

On average, Americans eat three times more meat than people in other countries. Not only that, but we also eat an average of three hamburgers per week. Yes, you read that correctly. Three hamburgers a week.

What is that eating habit costing society? The Center for Investigative Reporting put together a video to answer that question. Watch it and you’ll never look at a hamburger the same.

A few key numbers:

• It takes 1800 gallons of water to make a single pound of grain-fed beef.
• Because cows release methane gas when they digest food, they produce more greenhouse gas than 22 million cars per year.
• Slaughterhouses create about 30 million pounds of contaminants a year.
• One burger can contain the DNA of more than a thousand cows.
• If all Americans ate no meat or cheese one day a week, it would have the same climate change prevention effect as taking 7.6 million cars off the road for one year.

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