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| A recent report from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation reckons that meat eaters are one of the biggest contributors to today’s worst environmental problems. And we’re eating more and more meat every year! It has been predicted that global meat production will more than double by 2050. The report looked at the whole production chain and estimated that livestock are responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions, which works out as more damaging than all of transport put together! This includes carbon dioxide, mostly due to the massive amount of crops being grown on which to feed the animals. Then there’s methane gas that cows give off when they let off, and also nitrous oxide that comes from manure. These gases have the potential to warm the atmosphere even more than carbon dioxide. And livestock raised for us to eat takes up a whole lot of land. Like 30% of our entire land surface according to this report, not just the cows themselves but the land used to grow their feed too. Which has meant clearing forests to make room for more beasts, causing major deforestation, especially in Latin America where some 70 % of former forests in the Amazon have been turned over to grazing. |
Herds munching on the land also degrades it in quality as it becomes overgrazed, compacted and eroded once the animals have finished with it. Water is also a problem as good water resources are becoming more and more hard to come by in some countries. And we are giving it to animals to drink and watering their feed just so we can eat them later on down the line. Animal waste, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals, fertilizers and pesticides also contribute to water pollution and damage coral reefs and marine life. Overgrazing also disturbs water cycles, reducing replenishment of water resources. The huge amount of these animals bred for meat also poses a threat to the Earth’s biodiversity. Livestock exist as about 20% of total terrestrial animal biomass. The land that they then take up was once habitat for wildlife, making meat production a current threat to other fury little fellows. Just a few things to think about next time you’re eating meat?! It’s not that we don’t personally enjoy meat at the Thali, but as the report suggests, we believe cutting our meat intake makes sense when it come to doing our bit for the planet. So make it a Thali a week and you’ll be doing your bit too! Check out the following websites if you want to hear more about the report in question: FAO Website Livestock a major threat to environment UN says eat less meat to curb global warming |
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