More about Diet and Climate
Even Al Gore has been slammed for ignoring climate change and eating meat in an article I read this weekend! .Slammed for being the omnivore we have evolved to be.
So let’s have a look at agriculture, emissions and vegetarians and what we should eat.
Traditional farming producing meat on well cared for pastures produces less greenhouse emissions than crowding animals together in feed lots or “factory farms” where they store their waste in giant lagoons and cutting down forests to grow crops to feed them.
In fact the diet of a meat eater buying only ‘free range” meat, may actually emit less greenhouse gases than the diet of many vegetarians.
There are three main greenhouse gases involved in agriculture: carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides.
Carbon dioxide makes up the majority of agriculture-related greenhouse emissions. Some comes vehicle equipment use BUT globally, agricultural carbon emission result primarily from the clearing forest for crop growing and livestock grazing.
During the 1990s, tropical deforestation in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Sudan and other developing countries caused between15 and 35 percent of annual global carbon dioxide emissions.
In Brazil deforestation as much as 70 percent of areas newly cleared for agriculture in Mato Grosso State in Brazil is being used to grow soybeans. Over half of Brazil’s soy harvest is shipped around the world for animal feed and food products, causing additional emissions in the process.
Many vegetarians rely on soy for protein, and Brazilian soy is common (and unlabeled) in tofu and soymilk sold in international supermarkets. I must say I have always been a believer in unprocessed foods and felt that if soy beans had been meant to provide milk they would have been provided with nipples.
Methane is agriculture’s second-largest greenhouse gas. Wetland rice fields produce 29 percent of the world’s human-generated methane. And methane comes from sewage lagoons at animal feedlots.
Cattle also belch methane and to a lesser extent, so to sheep and goats. The amount emitted is related to diet and can be halved by making minor improvements in animal diets, like providing nutrient-laden salt licks. Regular pasture rotation also reduces methane emissions.
Nitrous oxide emissions make up around 5 percent of total greenhouse gases (figures from the USA) and over three-quarters of farming’s nitrous oxide emissions result from manmade fertilizers.
Additionally, several recent studies show that pasture and grassland areas used for livestock reduce global warming by acting as carbon sinks. One analysis published in the journal Global Change Biology showed a 19 percent increase in soil carbon by changing from crops to pasture. And animal grazing reduces the need for both fertilizers and fuel for farm machinery.
Perennial pastures used for grazing can decrease soil erosion by 80 percent and markedly improve water quality,
The Soil Association in Britain estimates that only half of food’s total greenhouse impact has any connection to farms. The rest comes from processing, transportation, storage, retailing and food preparation. Potato chip, are a “dreadfully climate-hostile food”. Foods that are minimally processed, in season and locally grown, like those available at farmers’ markets and backyard gardens, are generally the most climate-friendly.
Rampant food waste at the processing, retail and household stages compounds the problem. About half of the food produced in the United States is thrown away, and this is similar in Australia.
Whether we are vegan or omnivore, we all eat foods that play a role in global warming. Singling out meat is misleading and unhelpful.
I remember being abused by an animal rights activist wearing leather sandals, asking me if that cow wanted to be eaten? Did she think about whether it wanted to be skinned?
Jean is an award winning small business management expert. She gives you the almost paperless ISO Quality, Safety and Environment certification that protects your business and saves you time and money. For more information go tohttp://www.integratedisosystems.com
You can register your interest in the next risk management workshop at
http://www.riskmanagementinbusiness.com
