Before cars…few lines about food.
I thought food was always personal – that is, I do not have anything to say about what you eat OR you do not have anything to say about what I eat – until I read few insightful articles recently that surprised me on how what we eat impacts everybody else in the world, today, tomorrow and for centuries to come.
How come what we eat today can influence people going to live 200 or 300 years later?
1. Cars are less damaging for the environment. Why?
An article by Care2 described “Cars are often used as the golden standard of environmental destruction. We know that our driving is hurtful to the environment. But, what about a burger? We don’t instinctually associate meat consumption with climate change, but does the dark side of the meat industry give cars a run for their money? Which is actually worse—cows or cars?”
“Meet the world's top destroyer of the environment. It is not the car, or the plane : it is the cattle. A United Nations report has identified the world's rapidly growing herds of cattle as the greatest threat to the climate, forests and wildlife.” Said Independent UK (December 2006)
“University of Oxford found that, if everyone stopped eating meat and dairy products, global farmland use could be reduced by 75 per cent, an area equivalent to the size of the US, China, Australia and the EU combined. Not only would this result in a significant drop in greenhouse gas emissions, it would also free up wild land lost to agriculture, one of the primary causes for mass wildlife extinction”, described another story in Independent UK (June 2018)
“Livestock emissions make up around 16 percent of total global greenhouse gas emissions. Comparably, the transportation sector is responsible for around 14 percent of emissions. By those numbers alone, our current system of meat production is extremely damaging. Perhaps more looming, however, is that while transportation creates CO2, livestock farming is hugely responsible for producing methane. As you may know, methane is 23 times more potent when it comes to warming the planet” elaborated Care2 .
“Giving up beef will reduce carbon footprint more than cars” described Guardian in a 2004 story.
2. Is world hunger driven by what we eat?
A total of 842 million are estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger, regularly not getting enough food to conduct an active life. Between now and 2050, the global population is projected to rise from about 7 billion to 9.2 billion, demanding a 60 percent increase in global food production (these are stats from FAO an arm of United Nations).
“Creating a hunger free world is a major challenge for the world. But there is a solution : Cutting Back On Meat Consumption Could Help End Hunger By 2030. Today half the world’s agricultural land is used for livestock farming, which is far less efficient for feeding people - and worse for the environment - than producing grain, fruit and vegetables for direct human consumption” (read more Huffington post).
Later this month, world leaders are set to endorse a U.N. goal to eliminate hunger by 2030, but they will have to convince their citizens to adopt new eating habits first, experts say. Ending hunger will require tough choices in the field and on the dinner table.
3. Water - 946 gallons of water were used to make this plate
They have been saying the third world war will be about water. Water is becoming more and more scarce. Water scarcity is visible from California (USA) to Chennai (India).
It takes more than 2,500 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat requires only 25 gallons of water. Another statistics said, it takes 15,500 litres of water to produce 1 kg beef, contrasted with 180 litres for 1 kg tomatoes and 250 liters for 1 kg potatoes.
Consuming animal products is incredibly resource-intensive and water-intensive.
Also The livestock sector is probably the largest sectoral source of water pollution. Animals on U.S. farms produce 10 times more excrement than the country’s entire human population. All that has to go somewhere, and it often ends up in pond-like areas called “lagoons” that eventually flood into rivers and lakes.
An estimated 55% of the USA’s freshwater supply goes to raising animals for food. Same will be true for other countries. It can take more than 600 gallons of water to produce a single gallon of cow’s milk.
Each day, humans worldwide drink an estimated 5.2 billion gallons of water. Cows drink roughly eight and a half times that amount in a day—45 billion gallons.
A plant based diet can save 1000 gallons of water every day for each person.
Check out here what are water friendly foods.. http://graphics.latimes.com/food-water-footprint/
4. Turning to a plant based food can help the planet
Veganism is catching up fast worldwide and in the west specifically.
I did not know the difference between a Vegetarian and a Vegan till some time back until my daughter educated me on this. Vegetarians avoid meat but include dairy, honey etc. On the other hand, Vegan is about ethical eating and conscience living.
Veganism is not just about food alone. Veganism is about eliminating the need for having animals for food, clothing, shelter, health and entertainment. Veganism means you eliminate the need for meat, dairy products, honey, leather, silk (clothing) and avoid even circus (where animals are used for entertainment).
There are three YouTube videos I suggest we review which discusses some of the above facts:
Philip Wollen : Animals Should Be Off The Menu debate
I am started to learn that saving the earth starts from our plate, rather than cars.
Let us give it a thought.