Back to index of Nerve 14 - Summer 2009

Are You Eating the Earth?

By Alex Jones

Are meat eaters doing more damage to the planet than car drivers? According to the UN's 2006 report Livestock’s Long Shadow 18% of Greenhouse Gasses come from Livestock production. The greenhouse gasses emitted by Livestock farming are Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (NO2). Methane is 23 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas than Carbon Dioxide while Nitrous Oxide is a staggering 296 times more powerful. The report goes on to say that 9% of Carbon Dioxide 37% of Methane and 65% of Nitrous Oxide produced by humans comes from livestock farming.

There is no such thing as environmentally friendly meat. According to the German organisation Foodwatch, if you avoid intensively farmed meat and eat 1 kilo of grass fed beef the Methane emissions alone are the equivalent of driving 70 miles in a compact car, for intensively farmed beef the methane emissions are lower but this does not take into account the impact of other aspects such as growing feed, deforestation, transport etc. 70% of Greenhouse gasses from farming are related to Livestock with Beef and Dairy responsible for over half of these emissions.

Both dairy produce and eggs contribute markedly to the emissions from livestock farming. Consuming 10 pints of milk or 1 Kilo of cheese is the equivalent of driving 43 miles. For organic milk the mileage equivalent is 41 miles. In comparison 1 kilo of conventionally grown wheat is the equivalent of driving 2 miles and for organic wheat it is just under 1 mile.

The livestock industry is also responsible for deforestation on a massive scale, to create both land for animals and to grow animal feed. 80% of the deforested areas of the Amazon are used for grazing cattle. This deforestation is devastating the Brazilian rainforests, killing off wildlife and releasing vast amounts of Carbon and Nitrogen into the atmosphere. Overgrazing is also responsible for turning vast areas of the earth into desert.

Over a quarter of the Earth's surface is given over to livestock grazing plus another 30% of all arable land is used for providing feed for cattle. It takes around 10 kilos of animal feed to produce 1 kilo of beef and around 3 kilo's to produce 1 kilo of poultry. Even factory farmed fish need around 2 kilos of feed to produce 1 kilo of meat. Much of the feed given to livestock, including farmed fish comes from GM mono crops, often grown on deforested rainforest. If you consume non-organic meat or milk it's unlikely you have a GM free diet.

Meat production also uses vast amounts of water. Soya, the thirstiest plant, takes around 2,000 litres of water to produce 1 kilo, beef takes 100,000 litres for every kilo, chicken uses 3,500 litres per kilo. Then there is the pollution of water supplies by fertilizers, faeces and antibiotics - livestock farming is accused of being the biggest polluter of water.

Factory farmed fish also do a great deal of environmental damage. Scottish salmon farms produce twice as much phosphorous as the human population, this goes straight into the environment and suffocates the sea bed life in the area. Farmed salmon are also fed dyes, otherwise they would be grey not pink, these also ends up in rivers and seas along with the antibiotics the fish are fed.

Our insatiable craving for meat is putting up the prices of the crops that are turned into animal feed, meaning the poorest people are finding it increasingly difficult to feed themselves. If the current trends in meat consumption continue there will be a global famine as crop yields diminish and larger percentages of crops are used to feed livestock. While the wealthiest increase their meat consumption the poorest are actually eating less meat. In Sub Saharan Africa in 1980 10.4% of protein came from livestock, now it is only 9.3%. In the Industrialised Countries protein intake from livestock increased from 50.8% to 56.1% and in Asia it has increased from 7% to 16.2% as these countries have become richer. Even without climate change there is no way we can continue to sustain an ever increasing global appetite for meat.

Eating meat and dairy is very destructive. If you are serious about preventing climate change and want a sustainable future then consider adopting a vegan diet. Being vegan is the only sustainable way to feed the growing population of the Earth and help prevent climate change. It is not possible to be environmentally friendly and eat meat or consume dairy.

In the face of a consumer society based on greed and exploitation, being vegan is one of the most radical lifestyle choices you can make. We are told from birth that the strong have to exploit the weak, vegans refuse to accept this. Being Vegan is putting two fingers up to a society based on greed, exploitation and cruelty.

You will also be doing yourself a favour health-wise - vegans have a mortality rate 75% lower than the general population.

If you want to know more or get help becoming vegan there is a wealth of information on the internet (see links) In Liverpool you can call into Next to Nowhere, 96 Bold Street (underneath News From Nowhere bookshop) on Saturday afternoons, 12-5, to get advice and information and try out some vegan cuisine. Matta's on Bold Street and Windmill Wholefoods on Smithdown Road both sell specialist vegan food, as do most supermarkets, though the smaller shops are much better and friendlier as well as far more ethical. A lot of mainstream foods are already vegan. Liverpools vegetarian/vegan cafe's are The Egg on Newington , the Green Fish on Upper Newington and Greenfields on Lark Lane . For take away in the City Centre try Soupernatural on Rumford Street . Most restaurants provide food that is suitable for vegans.

I love being vegan, you would too. Be radical, be compassionate, be vegan.

Sources:

Livestocks Long Shadow - a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
The Stern Review into the economic affects of Climate Change.
The Rough Guide to Ethical Living
Foodwatch
Various International Panel on Climate Change Documents

Links:

www.viva.org.uk
www.eatgreen.org.uk
www.vegansociety.com/home.php
www.merseysideanimalrights.co.uk
www.veganvillage.co.uk
www.scouseveg.co.uk - Scouse Veg are a local social group who meet in the Egg Cafe on the first Friday of the month for food and fun.

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Comments:

Comment left by roberta on 29th April, 2010 at 21:08
the amazon is being destroyed not because of meat eating but because of imf policies and forced debt on those poor. they are growing soy beans and other cash crops not just meat. the imf makes them sell their land at pennies on the dollar for the debts. they were able to grow their own meat, veggies fruits before these policies were forced on them. now they are forced to grow crops for export instead of feeding themselves. there are other reasons related here but meat eating is not one of them. cows do not need supplementation when allowed free grazing on areas that are not able to grow crops. grain is used for factory farmings which I am against. not open and organic production. humans have been eating meat for thousands of years, and yet we are all still here and so are the animals too. gov are crying wolf all the time about just about everything that make life easier and better and more enjoyable,so I am not listening anymore. RRRR

Comment left by louis vuitton bag on 17th September, 2010 at 4:50
In Liverpool you can call into Next to Nowhere, 96 Bold Street (underneath News From Nowhere bookshop) on Saturday afternoons, 12-5, to get advice and information and try out some vegan cuisine. Matta's on Bold Street and Windmill Wholefoods on Smithdown Road both sell specialist vegan food, as do most supermarkets, though the smaller shops are much better and friendlier as well as far more ethical. A lot of mainstream foods are already vegan. Liverpools vegetarian/vegan cafe's are The Egg on Newington , the Green Fish on Upper Newington and Greenfields on Lark Lane . For take away in the City Centre try Soupernatural on Rumford Street . Most restaurants provide food that is suitable for vegans.

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