In going back through blog posts from years past, it seems that I have the most to say about a few select topics: chocolate, seasonal produce, and meat. A perhaps unhealthy obsession with a certain confection explains the first; my weekend side job could account for the second; but the third is a little funny for a vegan. My take? Since I don't ascribe to the stereotypical animal rights bucket of vegans, my musings on meat are an attempt to provide evidence for my own dietary decision to avoid it. Last meat post of the year; feel free to comment...
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| Photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT |
This is my last Vegan MoFo Soapbox, and I
have yet to broach the topic of meat-eating! We have previously
discussed my own journey and reasons for following a plant-based diet here, here, and here.
Though on the whole I don't dwell excessively on the lack of meat in my
diet, and more on the other components, since we are drawing towards
the end of the month, I thought we could devote today to exploring the
issue.
According to a study last year,
livestock occupies a quarter of the Earth's surface and one third of
the arable land grows animal feed. The team of researchers from the UN
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Swiss College of Agriculture,
World Bank, Stanford University, and the International Livestock
Research Institute predicted a possible double of production by 2050. If
we think about the current far-reaching impacts from animal waste,
deforestation and land degradation, methane and nitrous oxide emissions,
etc. all associated with livestock production, it is hard to imagine a
world with even more!
A World Watch Institute report released in 2005, Happier Meals,
documented the impacts of factory farming, and touts organic and local
animal agriculture, and increasing the number of vegetarian meals eaten
in a week! Most distinctly, the report discusses the inefficiencies of
converting feed, water, and fossil energy into edible calories. A more
recent publication by the Institute echos the message of this earlier
work. A Vital Signs
(based on FAO data) on the increase in meat production describes the
serious environmental impacts - deforestation and greenhouse gas
emissions - associated with the twenty percent increase in the last
decade.
But
at the same time, the report also notes that 70 percent of the 800
million in abject poverty (living on less than $1/day) rely on livestock
for their livelihoods. In Zimbabwe,
cattle's role in turning the soil has reversed the path of
desertification that was threatening crops and food security. Manure is
an important nutrient provider; chickens serve as pest control by eating
bugs off crops; and goats, well, can clear weeds...
Ok,
so perhaps you thought when I started this blog entry about the eating
of animals, that it would be vegan-centric, touting the benefits of an
herbivorous lifestyle. I have to say that for my part, I believe in the
benefits of such a diet for health and the environment. But I think the
issue of livestock-raising and meat-eating merit more critical scrutiny
and informed discussion. This is particularly true in cases outside of
industrialized countries, where animal protein is a luxury not a norm
(or an excess!), and where that may be the difference between starving
and feeding a family.
I welcome and encourage comments, in hopes of inciting perhaps a little more discussion than usual on the benefits and shortcomings of a diet inclusive of meat, dairy, and eggs.
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