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A Vegetarian spells it out to the World
by John Darmanin
Indian economist and head of the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, who is a vegetarian, speaking in a London meeting organized by Compassion In World Farming (CIFW) urged the people to give up meat for at least one day per weak and to keep decreasing meat consumption. He stressed that meat is one of the most powerful contributors to global warming and therefore cutting on meat consumption would produce relatively quick results. Giving numbers to support his arguments he said that:
- 70% of all agricultural land is used for grazing – this amounts to 30% of the surface of the earth.
- 70% of previously forested land in the Amazon is for cattle ranching and for the crops to feed them.
- 20% of land of the earth is degraded because of over grazing, soil compaction and erosion.
- Producing 1 kg of beef emits 36.4 kg of CO2 eq, 340g sulfur dioxide and 59g of phosphates and consumes 169 MJoules of energy - The emission is equivalent to that produced by the average European car journeying for 250 km and the energy used is that needed to keep a 100W bulb lighted for 20 days.
Comparing the cooking of 6 ounces of beef with a plate that consists of 1 cup broccoli; 1cup eggplant, 4 ounces cauliflower, 8 ounces rice the beef requires 16 times as much fuel and emits 25 times as CO2 equivalent.
In terms of water consumption,
- 1kg maize needs 900litres
- 1kg rice needs 3000liters
- 1kg chicken needs 3900liters
- 1kg pork needs 4900liters
- 1kg beef needs 15500liters
Other facts:
- Livestock is responsible for 64% of ammonia leading to acid rain and the pollution of sea and water.
- One third of the world’s cereals and 90% of the soya produced go for animal feed.
- A vegan who lives 70 years saves the equivalent of 100tons of CO2.
- A farmer using the same area of land can feed 30 people on vegetables and cereals but would feed 5 to 10 people on a mixture of beef, pork and chicken.
CIWF calculates that if everyone in the UK refrains from eating meat once a week it will save 13Mtons of CO2 per year which is equivalent to taking 5million cars off the road and equivalent to replacing one million light bulbs with energy saving bulbs.
The speech by Pachuari which has been commented in the press compliments the now controversial report issued by the UNFAO in November 2006 declaring that the livestock industry generates more greenhouse gases than the global transport sector i.e. all cars, ships trains and planes put together. Pachuari revamped the debate about this report which had been largely ignored by governments.
Pachuari said that such a reduction in CO2 is easier to achieve because it would be easier for people to cut down meat than to cut down on transportation.
However other speakers foresee that with developing countries, people would opt to enrich their diet with meat and its demand is sure to escalate in the coming decades. It is predicted that demand would double in 50 years and the number of slaughtered animals would rise from 60 billion to 120 billion annually. It is inevitable that such and expansion of the meat industry will resort to factory farming meaning even more miserable lives to the wretched creatures.
Joyce De Silva of CIWF spoke and said that the appeal is not to people living on marginal conditions in remote areas of the earth, but to the affluent people especially those in developed countries. She also said that while Europe now accepts that farm animals are sentient beings that suffer we must look at the problem also from a humane point of view and that animal welfare should not be compromised.
It is hoped to achieve progress through campaigning to persuade consumers to reduce meat consumption, to choose free range and hopefully to move policy makers to promote food choices that are healthier, more sustainable and more humane.
"Some of the gravest threats to the long term sustainability to humankind remain all but ignored" - Jonathon Porritt
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