Epicurious has made an impactful announcement in favour of a more sustainable future: they are no longer publishing new beef recipes. The reason? Our planet, of course
The massively popular and influential food and beverage resource that serves up tasty recipes for its dedicated audience of home cooks, Epicurious has not taken the decision to drop beef lightly, and they know it’s not going to come without backlash.
But in a post written by editor David Tamarkin, senior editor Maggie Hoffman and former digital editor David Tamarkin, the commitment is clear and decisive: “We’ve cut out beef. Beef won’t appear in new Epicurious recipes, articles, or newsletters. It will not show up on our homepage. It will be absent from our Instagram feed.”
Epicurious is adamant that this move is solely about sustainability and “not giving airtime to one of the world’s worst climate offenders.”
The post shared that this decision primarily comes from the environmental harm that is caused by cattle farming, as almost 15 percent of greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock.
The editors acknowledge that “ruminant animals (like sheep and goats) have significant environmental costs, and there are problems with chicken, seafood, soy, and almost every other ingredient. In a food system so broken, almost no choice is perfect.”
However, the post informs that 61 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that come from livestock can be traced back to beef. Cows are 20 times less efficient to raise than beans and roughly three times less efficient than poultry and pork.
There are plenty of meat alternatives that Epicurious has already been publishing, and they have seen encouraging traffic and engagement numbers from their readers. This positive response is the cherry on top to a decision that aims to protect and preserve our planet.
The Epicurious team knows that there are a lot of hamburger lovers out there and people will have questions, so have put together a full page about what the decision to drop beef means and why they are doing it, with a list of anticipated questions and answers which you can check out here.
Ultimately, giving up beef is no carnivore’s first choice, but Epicurious stands by this decision that they view “not as anti-beef but rather pro-planet.”