Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes	Part A: Vegetarian diets
15 minutes	Part B: The impact of the beef industry
30 minutes	Part C: Behaviour change media
05 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Vegetarian diets

Step 1.

Discuss:

Do students know any vegetarians? They might even be vegetarians themselves.
What might make someone want to be a vegetarian? They might do it for their health. They could be concerned about some allergies. Lots of vegetarians are concerned with animal welfare. However, one study has found that less than a fifth (18.4%) of the sample agreed that the impact of climate change could be reduced by consuming less meat, dairy products and eggs (Source).
What might make someone NOT want to be a vegetarian? Some people like the taste of it. Some associate it with good times and with the people they love. It can form a part of cultural or religious identities. These things are important.

This lesson isn't about converting students to being vegans or vegetarians. It's about looking at the known facts of how the mass production of the meat industry is unsustainable and harmful for the environment and the climate.

Part B: The impact of the beef industry

Step 1.

Independently or as a class, students read the article on the Student Worksheet.

Step 2.

Discuss students' initial reactions to this article.

What was the most interesting, shocking, or new piece of information you read?
Was there anything you disagree with or want more information on?

Part C: Behaviour change media

Step 1.

Whether or not students feel inclined to become vegetarians after reading that article, the science is unequivocal that reducing our consumption of meat, specifically beef, will be good for the environment and climate change. Not only that, but our current consumption of meat is totally, physically unsustainable if our population continues to increase as predicted by 2050.

So, we need to look at some ways we can persuade our community to change their eating habits.

Using their knowledge of cattle's impact on climate change and the environment, students will create a piece of media that informs and persuades their audience to move towards a meat-reduced diet. How far students want to push that agenda is up to them. As the article states, there are only modest additional benefits to everyone becoming a vegan compared to everyone becoming flexitarians.

This piece of media should:

use facts and/or anecdotes to convince audiences of the benefits of a meat-reduced diet for people's health as well as for the planet and meeting our emissions reduction targets
be interesting and engaging so that audiences want to take on the message.

Medium

Students could create:

A radio or television advertisement
A print advertisement such as a poster or billboard
A podcast discussing the pros and cons of the article
A persuasive letter, to the local newspaper, parliament member, or neighbours, advocating for a dietary switch

Tips

As the article says, becoming flexitarians with a much-reduced reliance on meat in our diets would have an almost as great an impact on the climate and deforestation as the production of beef for consumption would be greatly reduced.
The article contains plenty of facts to support these claims. However, you might like to conduct some additional independent research.
However, one study noted that people didn't really believe that a change in diet would have an impact on climate change. “Back in the 80s, we believed in the information deficit model of social change, and that if we could only get the information to policymakers they would do the right thing,” says atmospheric scientist Ken Caldeira, senior scientist for Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy. “And now we see that really it’s not about information deficit, it’s about power relations, and people wanting to keep economic and political power. And so just telling people some more climate science isn’t going to help anything.” So, what other ways can we influence people?
There is a big stigma around not eating meat being 'weak' or 'lame'. Some people might also be annoyed because vegetarians are difficult to accommodate at BBQs, which is a big deal for Australians. How can we reverse this stigma and make eating less meat 'cool' or 'strong'?
We could focus on heroes like Peter Siddle, who is a proud vegan and well regarded by Australians due to his sporting hero status, or singer Billie Eilish.
Initiatives such as Meatless Monday or Vegan before 6pm (VB6) making reducing meat in our diet an easier transition for some people. You don't have to go vegetarian immediately, but you can eat less red meat. You might like to promote these causes, or come up with your own catchy slogans.
For individuals to give up meat in favour of options lower on the food chain, those options should be available, visible, and tempting. Are there meat free options in your supermarket? Are they well displayed? How could you go about changing this?
Meat substitutes made from plants are seen as a key way to minimise disruption of established ways of cooking and eating, because they mimic the flavour, texture and aroma of animal protein. Do you think you could persuade someone to try a meat-free burger? Could you apply all the advertising tricks to make it as appealing as a regular burger?

Differentiation

Provisions for learning support

You might want to re-read the article with students and have them highlight facts that support the claim that the beef industry harms the environment. Students could then record a video about their thoughts on becoming a vegetarian, why they think it might be good (citing evidence from the article), and why they might find it challenging.

Extension

Challenge students to actually convince their families to reduce their meat intake, and record the results for a week. Was it harder to buy and cook food? Did their little sisters complain? Was it more expensive? Did you see any benefits? At the end of the week, write or record a reflection on the experience.

Alternatives

Students might like to explore claims in favour of a meat-based diet and mass-produced beef for consumption, and whether these claims are supported by science.

Reflection

Exit Ticket - Before moving to their next class or an outside break, students purchase their 'exit' with a 'ticket' that demonstrates their understanding of the learning undertaken in this lesson.

You can have students write their responses on a sticky note along with their name, or you can have them line up and verbally communicate their understanding to you at the door as they leave.

Students write down, or share verbally with the class, the single reason or fact that they think is most convincing for reducing meat in our diets.

Teacher reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

IPCC - Should We Stop Eating Meat?

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