Veganism good for the planet

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From Arkangel U.K. Veganism good for the planet The Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw has warned that Britain may need to go back to Second World War-style rationing if climate change gets worse. Ben Bradshaw has pointed out that food production did just as much damage as private transport and housing. Mr. Bradshaw made his comments as a new government website advised shoppers to help the planet by avoiding meat and cheese. The www.direct.gov.uk/greenerfood website makes clear that eating meat and dairy products contributes to global warming because of the energy and land needed to rear animals. Sheep and cows also emit harmful methane gas. According to the UK Vegan Society 'The meat-intensive diets of the developed world contribute to global warming, deforestation, desertification and water

pollution. Methane is one of the three 'greenhouse gases' thought to be the main source of the problem. 16% of methane caused by humans comes from farmed cattle. The most problematic greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide, produced when fossil fuels are burned to provide energy. Production of plant foods uses less energy than production of animal-based foods, so contributes less to climate change. Forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate - not just for wood, but also to provide land to graze cattle and to grow food for cattle. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that total forest loss in the 1990s amounted to an area larger than Venezuela. Forests are home to millions of species, which can become endangered when they lose their habitats. Trees also absorb carbon dioxide, so fewer trees mean more global warming. The new government website says that meat and cheese are among the worst for warming the planet,

"because of the way they are produced, packaged, transported or cooked". Although transport and housing get all the blame for heating up the planet, food production and preparation do just as much damage, accounting for 25 per cent of global warming. Flying accounts for just two per cent. The Vegan Society also argue that: "Meat and dairy production is an inefficient use of land, food and water. It has been estimated that for every kilogram of meat protein produced, farmed animals are fed nearly 6kg of plant protein. Livestock such as cattle and sheep use more than two thirds of agricultural land, and one third of the earth's total land area. In a world where every year 6 million children under the age of 5 die as a result of hunger and malnutrition, the meat-intensive diets of the western world represent a tragic misuse of limited planetary resources."Peter H

 

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