Today is World Vegetarian Day, so it seems an appropriate time to consider the food we eat and the impact of our choices on animals and the environment.
News from the UK's Independent makes a bold claim: "
Give up meat, save the planet"
"It really could be that simple, as new research warns that without radical changes to our diets, the food industry alone is likely to cause an 80 per cent increase in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, exceeding the current emissions targets for the entirety of the global economy."
So far, around 35 per cent of Earth’s ice-free land has been cleared for food production causing deforestation, biodiversity loss and water pollution, while the egregious levels of methane produced at every end of a cow contribute directly to the greenhouse effect.
What’s new is the scale of our collective appetite. At the rate we’re munching through burgers, the amount of land used in the race to provide us with enough medium-rare-rump will have ballooned by 42 per cent by 2050 causing massive further deforestation, pollution, and loss of species. The message is clear: if we don’t alter the way we eat and farm, the food industry will cause a climate disaster all by itself, making meat eating a relatively selfish hobby.
Year-round we fret about governmental inaction on climate change, bemoan the reluctance of the world’s statesmen to take the threat posed by global warming seriously, and grow tired of the bluster that accompanies every retreat from prioritising sustainable energy. As individuals, we often feel powerless to put a dent in reports of mounting emissions, or alter the direction of our planet’s worrying future: doomed by science and neglected by politics.
Eating meat, however, is down to us. The associated climate change danger can be pinned squarely on our insatiable appetites and our collective demand for more ribs on more plates, and no one can stop chewing on that cow for you. The market marches to the growl of our stomachs, and if we eat less, they’ll farm less. By dropping meat we can make a positive impact on global warming, while if we keep up our habits, the opposite is equally certain. It might be time to put down the steak knife and embrace a meat-free future."
What do you think? Time to re-examine the food we eat?
Image:
www.dosavannah.com/sites/default/files/field/image/it_photo_93667.jpg