Eating less meat may help the planet…
Some of you may remember this post from a while back: Saving the planet by going vegetarian… in which I had said: “I wish someone likes Shri Pachauri makes it part of his/her agenda…”
Seems my wish has been fulfilled! Last week, Dr Rajendra Pachauri appeared to confirm that eating less meat will help protect the environment:
People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help tackle climate change, the world’s leading authority on global warming has told The Observer
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which last year earned a joint share of the Nobel Peace Prize, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further.
…Pachauri, who was re-elected the panel’s chairman for a second six-year term last week, said diet change was important because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems – including habitat destruction – associated with rearing cattle and other animals. It was relatively easy to change eating habits compared to changing means of transport, he said.
…’In terms of immediacy of action and the feasibility of bringing about reductions in a short period of time, it clearly is the most attractive opportunity,’ said Pachauri. ‘Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there,’ said the Indian economist, who is a vegetarian.
However, he also stressed other changes in lifestyle would help to combat climate change. ‘That’s what I want to emphasise: we really have to bring about reductions in every sector of the economy.’
…last night he (Dr Pachauri) was given unexpected support by Masterchef presenter and restaurateur John Torode, who is about to publish a new book, John Torode’s Beef. ‘I have a little bit and enjoy it,’ said Torode. ‘Too much for any person becomes gluttony. But there’s a bigger issue here: where [the meat] comes from. If we all bought British and stopped buying imported food we’d save a huge amount of carbon emissions.’ [ link ]
Food for thought, isn’t it?
Related Post: Saving the planet by going vegetarian…
Some of you will also enjoy Question Six and its answer here: Ten Questions People Ask about Hinduism…
This is a different form of fanaticism – the greens. I remember plenty of debate and alarm over the “population bomb” in the 80’s and Malthusian economics and how we would run out of resources. What happened to this one? How come people are worried about negative population growth in Europe now?
This is the new, new scare being propagated – global warming. There are enough scientists on the other side of the debate to say unequivocally that the current warming of earth is man-made. Earth has gone through many cycles of heating and cooling over its past for this to be considered unique.
Cheers
Dear Shantanu,
Your post on 10 questions on Hinduism was interesting and to some extent enlightening. But I am thoroughly puzzled by the moral high ground claimed by vegetariansim, on the basis of ‘ahimsa’ doctrine and my objections (in brief) are as follows:
1) Are u not aware that plants are also living beings?that eating them or their parts causes a tremendous amount of pain to them? The same has been demonstrated by Mr. Jagdish Chandra Bose about a 100 years back. So how does vegetarianism claim to be consistent with ahimsa? just because plants don’t scream or writhe in pain when one plucks out a fruit (equivalent to plucking out a human beings genetalia, without anaesthesia, in terms of pain felt), its not himsa???
truth be told, a species can not survive without being dependant on another species for food. hence the concept of ‘food chain’. So human beings HAVE TO kill other living beings for food. whether u choose to kill plants or animals is a matter of taste,convenience, nutrition, tradition and other variables – ahimsa or for that matter morality has nothing to do with it. Its disappointing to see an objective and rational mind like urs, falling for this argument.
2) When u say there are more vegetarians in South India than in North, I don’t know what u mean by ‘south india’. If ur definition of ‘south india’ is anything south of Vindhyas, let me tell u that huge populations in various parts of ‘south india’ are strictly non-vegetarian. we don’t have proper scientific data to prove or disprove ur comment abt more vegetarians in South – so lets not make that comment.
Further, non-vegetarianism in north india is NOT a result of Islamic influence. Vedic culture is replete with references to meat eating by all classes of people.much before the Islamic invasion, during the ‘Mahajanapadas’ era, during Chandragupta Maurya and even during Asoka’s time – non-vegetarianism was quite the norm.Thats why Jainism and Buddhism sought to emphasize on vegetarianism.
Kindly provide me ur response to the above. On a different note, I would take Mr. Pachauri’s argument abt vegetarianism a bit more seriously than any so-called religious or moral argument.
Warm regards
If anyone ever have gone to butcher houses? Please do visit and one will not need any reason for stop eating meat or non-veg food. I am afraid of living on this planet where living animals are being chopped down for food. Animals are like us, who has all organs, they can have tears in their eyes. They go through the same pain of fear, sadness and love. It is said in our holy book that we go through the birth of all living beings. Just imagine how helpless all these animals are, who cannot defend the huge animal called “Human”.
Once travelling in N. America I saw a big carrier carring ‘cows’ and they had a small windows from where these animals breathe. They looked so innocents and dont have clue that there life will be at end very soon, once they reach the butcher house. If animals can understand that they are being sent for …They would like to come out of that carrier and would try to do everything to be escaped. They were tied hard cannot talk or love other animals who had been tied in the same manner.
Food chain, science describes this that if we dont eat up these animals they will grow in numbers. But I dont think so! They all have short life span so no question of growing in numbers. Here what we are doing we are growing them in special environment for our food. So it is we who are growing them in numbers, naturally they are built to have short life span.
Its my input and clue, animals are different than plants in the way that no blood, flesh and bones. Major difference in decomposition of animal body and plants body. So also huge difference when we put animals in our stomach and plants in our stomach. And “Geeta” have mentioned plants and fruits as a source of food( My mother mentioned this, I dont have any ref.,here to show the link). It has also mentioned that how we nurture our mind and body is also of importance. My comment is not to offend any non-vegeterian but to discourage them from eating. Please go to “PETA” websites and see how cruel humans are towards animals.
@ Sudipta: Thanks for your comment…
I guess I should have put up a disclaimer re. “Ten Questions”.
That post is not written by me – It has simply been reproduced on my blog because I found it interesting. Like a huge amount of content on this blog, I don’t agree with everything being said in that post..
In fact it may surprise you that I am “meat-eater” myself (although I usually limit myself to fish and sea-food)!
As for “how does vegetarianism claim to be consistent with ahimsa?”, I think thats a great question..I have emailed a couple of people who I believe may have some insight into this to ask them for their views…Once (if) I hear from them, I will post their responses here.
Re. there being more vegetarians in South India, no…I don’t have any data too…only anecdotal unsubstantiated evidence… I too believe that people did eat meat (at least fish and fowl) in ancient times – or at least the well off and the royalty did.
Things may have changed through the ages (esp. in the medieval era) and vegetarianism does have links with Hinduism…but to say that all Hindus are vegetarians is patently wrong – as you and I both know.
In fact, international airlines (such as British Airways) do serve chicken and fish as part of the “Hindu” meal!
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@ Indian: Interesting comment…I am trying to dig deeper into the animals vs. plants question that has been raised… If you do get the reference to Gita, please post a comment here. Thanks
@Indian:
PETA is what I would call a vegan, fanatic organisation.
Let us flip your question into a different perspective:
1. Do you wear leather shoes and belts? If yes, why?
2. Do you live in a house built with cement and mortar? Do you know the amount of tress that have been cut down, while setting up these factories? Do you know the amount of effluents released by these factories in nearby rivers? Do you not think that this unnecessarily harms animal (they lived in the forests that disappeared) and plant life? Why do you not live instead in a kutir made up of dead branches collected from a nearby forest/park/woods?
3. Do you drink cow/buffalo milk? If yes, why? Humans are the only unnatural beasts on earth that drink different species’ mothers milk? Do you know why a cow keeps gives *you* milk? Because they take away their calves after birthing.
4. Do you go to work in car/bus/truck? Do you know the carbon emissions from automobiles wrecks the ozone layer far more than any breeding of animals could?
5. Do you think a farmer is being very respectful to life, when he scythes down an entire field of wheat? And, yet I guess you eat that? And, fruits are even worse …. that is equivalent to killing the unborn child in the womb. After all, new life springs from the seeds within the fruit?
Anyway, I find the whole “holier than thou” attitude of vegetarians very irritating.
At least, we meat-eaters allow our food to run away from us! You vegetarians are more barbaric, killing poor, potted, defenceless plants.
@ Shantanu:
Sudipta is right about the south. Only the brahmins in the south do not eat meat/fish – all other communities do. You have to just go and check out malabar or chettinad or andhra cuisine for proof!
Cheers
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Hi
I will find the links but somewhere I read that Lord Krishna said ” I accept all offering but the offerings that are natural such as fruits, flowers, leaf and water is acceptable. And Lord Krishna also said said not to harm plants unnecessary.
Below given talks about Manu-samhita
The next reason for being vegetarian is to consider the amount of fear and suffering that animals experience in the slaughter industry. There are countless stories of how in fear cows cry, scream, and sometimes fall down dead while inside or even before they are taken into the slaughter house. Or how the veins of dead pigs are so big that it shows they have practically exploded from the fear the pig felt and the adrenalin that was produced while it was being led to slaughter. This certainly causes an immense amount of violence to permeate the atmosphere, which goes out and falls back on us in some form. Furthermore, the adrenalin and fear in the animal also produces toxins which then permeate the body of these animals, which meat-eaters ingest. People who consume such things cannot help but be effected by it. It causes tensions within them individually, which then spreads in their relations with others.
The ancient Vedic text of the Manu-samhita (5.45-8) says, “He who injures innoxious beings from a wish to give himself pleasure never finds happiness, neither living nor dead. He who does not seek to cause the suffering of bonds and death to living creatures, but desires the good of all beings, obtains endless bliss. . . Meat can never be obtained without injury to living creatures, and injury to sentient beings is detrimental to the attainment of heavenly bliss; let him therefore shun the use of meat.â€
The Bible (Romans 14.21) also says, “It is neither good to eat flesh, nor to drink wine.†Another biblical commandment (Exodus 23.5) instructs us to help animals in pain, even if they belong to an enemy.
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/why_be_vegetarian.htm
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I was surprised by the amount of awareness about being vegetarinism in Western countries like U.S., U.K., and Canada. Many women are taking this step of being vegeterian, as red meat and other animal products have been associated with Breast cancer in women. Though the ratio of turning in to vegeterianism is less but awareness is very high. Many hollywood celebrities have turned vegi.
Yes I agree not EATING MEAT(PORK,BEEF) MAY HELP THE PLANET.
But eating poultry,table eggs,fish and other sea food is just fine. And mainly poultry and poultry products is the cheapest form of high content protein available
Dear Shantanu,
My Apologies – I didnot notice that the ‘ten questions’ post was not authored by u. Also pls do excse the harsh tenor of my comment – its just that in the past few days I hav heard various versions of this ‘vegetarianism is a morally superior way of life’ argument and was getting pissed off. the ‘ten questions’ post was just the trigger to shoot of an angry reaction. Will wait for your further comments, once u hear from ur acquaintances.
About Indian’s comments about ‘no blood, bones etc for plants’ – well, plants have effective biological equivalents. My point is not to say that plants are same as animals. My point is the only possible way to follow the path of complete ‘ahimsa'(no violence against any LIVING BEING) is to starve to death. I am also against unnecessary torture of animals. But I don’t think vegetarianism is the path to ‘dharma/moksha’ if pure ‘ahimsa’ is the condition precedent for ‘dharma/moksha’.
http://www.ivu.org/news/march2000/hinduism.html
The above link speaks about what Bhagwad Geeta has to say about food. Nice piece to read. It also says in vedic text the word “Hindu” has not been used anywhere.
Hope I can find more vedic text on it.
A lot of posters here don’t understand that meat as is commonly eaten today is a result of factory farming. Thus, cows are inseminated to produce many more calf than they would normally. They are herded together almost like a can of sardines and put through an enormous amount of torture. On top of that, many of these operations in the US are subsidized. Or else, you wouldn’t get a big Mac for such a cheap price. More cows artificially generated means more land to grow crops ie more farming to feed animals instead of humans, thus more trees cut down, more soil erosion, etc. In the past, meat eating was done in a more sustained manner. Today, factory farming is playing havoc. Yes, eating some other form of life is unavoidable but can’t we at least limit it? Some of the arguments put forth are just amusing to say the least. You guys should see the movie “meatrix” for more details. So at least reduce meat consumption and eliminate red meat or else be ready for heart disease, etc in your later years.
Hi Patriot
Oh I like to live in a kutir! Is there available anywhere in India with lock and Bolt? I would like to live in a houses made of complete mortar and cement. Because I live in a wooden boxes here, partially made of cement and steel. I prefer walking where ever I go except when I am travelling with my family I go by car. I reduced some pounds from my waist. Waiting for fuel prices go down! Thanks. I am less pollutant! I dont think all shoes and belts are made of leather. And many have abandon leather for these reason too. And not only adults but children have started using cotton bags as lunch boxes in school and for shopping, to avoid plastic bags and plastic products. We are coming back to old days. Not only that many have abandon milk products too, and accepted soy milk over it. Now dont go into what soy is made up of. Its their choice of beig vegetrianism. As a farmer atleast I know how much it is important to milch a milk from their udder or else they go through pain if their udder is not emptied. Milk production is more than their calves can have.
It is not a matter of Holier than Thou attitude. I was not propogating here vegeterianism. It is a matter of debate and discussion and should go on. Whether you eat or not. To you it may be iritatting but not all feel the way you feel, Right! Why you take personally, enjoy man what ever you want but let other live with their choices too! If someone is eating non-veg doesnot mean they should stop talking about veg.
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Hi Sudipta
May be this link says about plants also. very nice explaination. It says we are killing plants too, but we are not killing whole plants from the roots. And it also says about food chain. But limit of killing.
http://www.naturalnirvana.com/Vegetarian/Vegetarian-Files/Non-Vegetarian-Food.htm#isnteating
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I would also like to put some other thoughts here. Why monkey, dog, cow, buffalo, elephants are respected in Hinduism? Only because these animals were herbivorous. They sustained their life without eating any animals.
I think this would be my last comments on this topic. Too many comments and I dont want to exceed limit of too much vegeterianism or reader here will target me as …blha, blha..
@ Indian:
“Why you take personally, enjoy man what ever you want but let other live with their choices too!”
Absolutely …. that is why I am asking vegetarians to give it a rest. I do not want to hear about why you think vegetarianism is better ….. we all have access to the same information. In recent times, in India, I can see no difference between the proselytizing vegetarians and evangelising christians!
“Why monkey, dog, cow, buffalo, elephants are respected in Hinduism? Only because these animals were herbivorous. They sustained their life without eating any animals.”
Yet, the Tiger is our national animal – how do you explain that? Would you rather substitute the cow instead?
And, I remember some holy man telling me once – only indian cows are holy, not US cows! So, it is okay for the americans to eat their cows!
@ Balu:
Please provide the data that substantiates your view that the US govt subsidises the production of beef.
“You guys should see the movie “meatrix†for more details. So at least reduce meat consumption and eliminate red meat or else be ready for heart disease, etc in your later years.”
I am sure we are all aware of what are the issues of red meat consumption, and at the same time, what are the drawbacks of being only a vegetarian. The key is to have balanced meals ….. not just one type of food product. Ever wondered why India can not produce Olympians? Diet is one of the reasons.
Cheers
Hi Patriot
You need a rest!, close your eyes and avoid reading my comments, thats what I can suggest. Let others readers who are interested read this comment. Not all are knowlegable like you Right! And you really need to understand, in this new India nobody can force and impose anyone to do so and so. But people have rights to put their opinion and thoughts forward on every subject. No matter how some people feel. Atleast, I dont care!
For that Holy cow you should ask to that holy man. Not me and because of so and so did tell something to you and you didnot felt good that doesnot mean I should stop commenting on veg. After all vegiterinism is not all that bad that one should restrict someone from putting forward their thoughts and opinion.
I am not here for leg pulling! Everybody has different topic of interest; just stick to topic which interests you.
FYI. There is lot difference between National animal and animlas that are respected by Hinduism. In a nation were Hinduism is still fighting for his/her rights, what I can say more about it, you know better than me. Diet is not the one reason for olympians. Its shows lack of knowledge on part that one needs meat to get strength. There are other factors that are effecting us. Tricks and techniques, resources and riligious practise.
I am not going to get into the positives and negatives of vegetarian and non vegetarian diet, or about philosophical aspects. However the problem is not eating non vegetarian diet that is causing a problem, but over indulgance in it definitely diet. If we look at a balanced diet, it consists of whole grains, 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables, and proteins in addition to omega oils and other important supplements. Now protein is the reason people eat meat, but not all meat currently is healthy, anyone can check the health articles everywhere on the web. Doctors are asking people to take more fish and sea food than red meat to improve heart health. If we look at such a diet, what Pachauri said isnt in conflict. In this society, meat eating ,specially in the west is a staple , and it substitutes whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Current junk food consists of processed meat, and corn based products. I remember a documentary which showed how all our current food sources like the Mac food has origins in corn, and how our only source of food has become corn!!!
If people switch to healthy eating, it will definitely reduce intake of meat and help our planet, along with improving overall health of human kind!
This is the report from UN about how meat production produces more green house gases than even driving cars:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20772&Cr=global&Cr1=environment
For anyone who doubts global warming as a reality, or doesnt worry about the environment and doesnt want to contribute, yes, reducing meat is tough. However I guess we can see from growing number of storms in the atlantic, to change in climate everywhere to what is happening. If it is natural, so what, doesnt mean we cannot do something to do our bit to reduce emissions. And people who think we are absolutely innocent in the way we treat the environment, please think again. As I write so many acres of the rainforests in South America and Asia is being destroyed. As I write species get extinct. It is our greed which has caused such a pitiful condition of our environment. I wont say people should not eat meat, but cutting down doesnt hurt.Insisting on less factory farming wont hurt! I would go further, reducing consumption of every kind – clothes, electronics, fuel etc would help reduce the strain on our environment!
Please remember protecting our environment is not some one elses duty, it is like saying my house is in need of repair, but I didnt cause it, its doom to fail anyway! No one says that do they. The earth is the only house we know in our universe, lets not keep doubting if global warming is self created or not. If you see the documentary on National Geography Channel – Earth the Biography, we learn about the troubled times earth had to go through. But life survives and evolves. But the anchor had a warning, this time we are creating the global warming, but as always our earth will emerge from any global catastrophy renewed, and so will life emerge. But the human species wont survive! So if we protect our environment it is only for our own survival!!!
Vidhya, well said!
Another reason to consider a more vegetarian-biased diet:
People do not only consume water when they drink it or take a shower. In 1993, Professor John Anthony Allan* from King’s College London and the School of Oriental and African Studies, 71, strikingly demonstrated this by introducing the “virtual water†concept, which measures how water is embedded in the production and trade of food and consumer products. Behind that morning cup of coffee are 140 litres of water used to grow, produce, package and ship the beans. That is roughly the same amount of water used by an average person daily in England for drinking and household needs. The ubiquitous hamburger needs an estimated 2,400 litres of water.
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The per capita consumption of virtual water contained in our diets varies according to the type of diet, from 1 m3/day for a survival diet, to 2.6 m3/day for a vegetarian diet and over 5 m3 for a United States style meat based diet.
In general, livestock products have a higher virtual water content than crop products. For example, the global average virtual water content of maize, wheat and rice (husked) is 900, 1300 and 3000m3/ton respectively, whereas the virtual water content of chicken meat, pork and beef is 3900, 4900 and 15500m3/ton respectively.
Source: http://waterwiki.net/index.php/Virtual_water
Here’s an article on meat and global warming. It would be useful if the government, instead of trying to introduce gm crops (bt brinjal is now to be grown in India), encouraged our return to traditional crops and eating patterns.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6891362.ece
This is for Patriot:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Vegetarian-Athletes—10-Olympic-Champions&id=1401638
And here’s Carl Lewis on his diet and performance:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=744765316519516434#
And a vegan bodybuilder: http://robertcheeke.com/
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“Please provide the data that substantiates your view that the US govt subsidises the production of beef.”
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Look into the exemptions granted to factory farms in the US when it comes to pollution of air and water as a direct result of factory farms. It’s also tied in with the subsidies given to agribusinesses for producing corn and soybeans to be fed to factory farm animals. What a wasteful and inefficient way of producing meat!!
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“I do not want to hear about why you think vegetarianism is better ….. we all have access to the same information. In recent times, in India, I can see no difference between the proselytizing vegetarians and evangelising christians!”
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So discussion of how wasteful and inefficient – not to mention a health risk to population at large – meat production is, and to question that increasing trend, is the same as evangelical christians? You do realize that the negatives of a diet rich in meat – whether they be the health of a person, or the health of the planet – are well-documented and based on facts? And if an increase in such a trend of eating more meat has consequences on the society as a whole, why shouldn’t we discuss that issue? Or is that your holy cow, so to speak, which you don’t want to discuss?
And if you don’t want to hear about the positives of a vegetarian diet, all you’ve to do is skip the posts and comments. 🙂
Cheers.
Shantanu, this is unrelated but I would be keen to know your views on this topic. I recently came across many Brahmins who eat meat and even beef (!) from the South and read an excellent debate on the topic on a blog called Konenakshatra.
http://acorn.nationalinterest.in/2009/11/01/curry-roast-beef-italian-wine/
Arun: Yes, I did read Acorn’s post…very interesting indeed.
Another book worth reading on animal protein and human health is “The China Study” by T.Colin Campbell. The author apparently was interested in study done by TV Madhavan and C. Gopalan titled ” The effect of dietary protein on carcinogenesis of aflatoxin” He was able to replicate the results of the study which led him to the following conclusion: essentially, when the amount of protein is more that 12% of the diet, it “turns on” cancer cells (leads to their growth and progession). However, the only protein to do so was animal protein. Plant protein which is not as bioavailable to the body and is metabolized slowly does not turn on those cell. Plant protein includes soy protein which is considered a complete protein.
With cancer rates increasing in many countries including Japan and China with the adoption of a more western diet–a combination of animal protein and highly processed food,–it behooves us to take note of the public health disaster waiting to happen.
Excerpts from A Chicken Without Guilt By MARK BITTMAN:
IT is pretty well established that animals are capable of suffering; we’ve come a long way since Descartes famously compared them to nonfeeling machines put on earth to serve man. (Rousseau later countered this, saying that animals shared “some measure†of human nature and should partake of “natural right.â€) No matter where you stand on this spectrum, you probably agree that it’s a noble goal to reduce the level of the suffering of animals raised for meat in industrial conditions.
…
There are four ways to move toward fixing this. One, we can improve the animals’ living conditions; two (this is distasteful but would shock no one), we might see producers reduce or even eliminate animals’ consciousness, say, by removing the cerebral cortex, in effect converting them to a kind of vegetable (see Margaret Atwood’s horrifying description in her prescient “Oryx and Crakeâ€); three, we can consume fewer industrially raised animals, concentrating on those raised more humanely.
Or four, we can reduce consumption, period
…
And almost all unbiased people agree that less meat is better than more: for our health, for the environment and certainly for the animals treated as widgets.
From Can Athletes Perform Well on a Vegan Diet? by Gretchen Reynolds, a quote by Dr D. Enette Larson-Meyer:
I like to tell people that if we got most Americans to eat one less serving of meat every day, there would be far greater impact..in terms of improving overall public health and the health of the planet
Another link, for the record/ especially for those who believe meat-eating is essential for muscles and body-building http://aryatva.com/2012/06/23/you-dont-need-to-eat-meat-to-build-muscles/
In the context of Patriot’s comment @ #13 as well as the post above, excerpts from Olympic vegetarians: the elite athletes who shun meat by Adharanand Finn
“Lizzie Armitstead was just 10 years old when she told her parents she wanted to become a vegetarian. Yesterday, she won Great Britain’s first medal of the Olympic Games, taking silver in the gruelling 87-mile road cycling race, no less.
I was brought up as vegetarian from birth and have been a long distance runner for most of my adult life. One of the most common misconceptions I’ve come across is that vegetarians are pallid, gentle creatures who would recoil in a tough sporting arena.
…as Armitstead has shown yet again, vegetarians continue to rise to the very top of their sports. She follows a long line of Olympians who have managed to excel without “eating corpses”, as she herself puts it. In honour of her medal, here are a few other great vegetarian Olympians:
Paavo Nurmi
One of the greatest distance runners in history, the ‘Flying Finn’ won nine gold medals in long-distance running events during the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, including the 1,500m and 5,000m on the same afternoon in Paris in 1924.
Edwin Moses
Twice the Olympic 400m hurdles gold medallist, Moses went on one of the most incredible winning streaks in the history of sport when he won 122 successive races between 1977 and 1987, breaking four world records along the way.
Carl Lewis
Carl Lewis wasn’t a vegetarian when he won four gold medals in Los Angeles in 1984, but turning vegan later in his career only seemed to help. In 1991 he won the 100m at the world championships at the age of 30 in a world record. It was, he has said, his greatest race.
Christopher Campbell
The wrestling arena is no exception when it comes to vegetarian winners. Campbell missed his chance at Olympic gold in 1980 through the US boycott of the Games – he won the world title in 1981 – but he managed to come back in 1992 to win bronze in Barcelona at the ripe old age of 37.
Martina Navratilova
Although she lost in the quarter finals in her only Olympic appearance in Athens in 2004, Navratilova is one of the greatest tennis players in history, winning 18 Grand Slams, including an incredible nine Wimbledon titles. She is a strong advocate of vegetarianism.
Excerpts from The real trouble with beef by Samar Halarnkar:
Within the meat-eating universe, as the chart so starkly reveals, eating beef is most damaging…
Tailpipe emissions, the technical term for vehicle exhaust, contribute about 14.5% of global emissions, the same as emissions from livestock, primarily from cattle and sheep but also from chicken and pigs, said a new report from Chatham House, a London-based think tank.
“Globally, food systems are responsible for up to 30% of all human-driven greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,†said the report. “The production of animals and of crops for feed alone accounts for nearly a third of global deforestation and associated carbon dioxide emissions; it is a primary source of methane and nitrous oxide, two of the most potent GHGs; and in terms of water, land and energy use, it is highly resource-intensive.â€
…
The auguries are not good. Meat eating is likely to increase 76% over the next 35 years. …
From Meat is a complex health issue but a simple climate one: the world needs to eat less of it, July 5, 2015, an excerpt (emphasis added):
Climate change is the greatest challenge to human health, according to the recent Lancet Commission report which calls for action to protect the global population. The report says that tackling climate change could deliver huge public health benefits, largely through phasing out coal, embracing renewable energy, and moving to a low-carbon economy. There is however one crucial issue the report fails to address: meat.
…
The livestock sector is a large source of global greenhouse gas emissions, with estimates of its overall contribution varying between 18% and 51%. Even in the smallest estimate, the livestock sector emits more greenhouse gas than the world’s transport networks.
According to one set of projections, by 2050 this sector will single handedly account for 72% of the total “safe operating space†for human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, 88% of the safe operating space for biomass use, and 300% of the safe operating space for the mobilization of nitrogen compounds in soils and elsewhere. This would lead to irreversible changes, irrespective of any efforts to mitigate climate change in other sectors of the economy.
The livestock industry does not just generate carbon dioxide – it adds to the full spectrum of major greenhouse gases. It is the primary (and growing) source of methane and nitrous oxide – gases estimated to have 84 and 264 times respectively the global warming potential of CO2 on a 20-year horizon (see page 87 here).
On the positive side, however, methane dissipates the most rapidly of all greenhouse gases, and so changing what we eat would have an also immediate effect on climate change. Moving away from meat would also help farmers to use nitrogen more efficiently, which would have the dual impact of causing less pollution while also helping people get more nutrition from the foods they grow….
Excerpts from Why eating more vegetables is good for the environment, Apr 19th 2016:
……Overall the livestock sector accounts for between 8% and 18% of global emissions—about as much pollution as comes out the tailpipes of the world’s cars.
…The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that the world’s domesticated ruminants annually release 100m tonnes of methane—a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
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Following a modest meat diet, global greenhouse gas emissions were found only to increase 7% by 2050 (compared with an expected increase of 51% according to projections from the status quo). A widespread switch to vegetarianism could curb emissions by nearly two thirds and veganism by 70%. More careful diets would also offer more direct health benefits. Gobbling too much red meat, particularly the processed sort, can increase the risk of heart disease and certain cancers. The study found that more than 5m deaths could be averted over the next three decades or so if meat were consumed modestly around the world. Over 7m could be saved if veggie-eating caught on more widely; 8m would benefit from popular veganism.
More on this, from Meat eaters are destroying the planet, says report by Harriet Agerholm, 5 October 2017:
Meat consumption is devastating some of the world’s most valuable and vulnerable regions, due to the vast amount of land needed to produce animal feed, a report has warned.
The growing popularity of a Western diet, which contains high levels of meat and dairy, means an area 1.5 times the size of the European Union would be saved if global consumption of animal products was reduced to meet nutritional requirements, according to the WWF.
The new report, Appetite for Destruction, launched at the Extinction and Livestock Conference, says the consumption of animal products is leading to a vast and increasing amount of land being used for crops.
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Excessive animal product consumption is responsible for 60 per cent of all biodiversity loss, according to WWF, with the UK food industry alone directly linked to the extinction of an estimated 33 species.
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More on this: Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth
Avoiding meat and dairy products is the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on the planet, according to the scientists behind the most comprehensive analysis to date of the damage farming does to the planet.
The new research shows that without meat and dairy consumption, global farmland use could be reduced by more than 75% – an area equivalent to the US, China, European Union and Australia combined – and still feed the world. Loss of wild areas to agriculture is the leading cause of the current mass extinction of wildlife.
The new analysis shows that while meat and dairy provide just 18% of calories and 37% of protein, it uses the vast majority – 83% – of farmland and produces 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions. Other recent research shows 86% of all land mammals are now livestock or humans. The scientists also found that even the very lowest impact meat and dairy products still cause much more environmental harm than the least sustainable vegetable and cereal growing.
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The study, published in the journal Science, created a huge dataset based on almost 40,000 farms in 119 countries and covering 40 food products that represent 90% of all that is eaten. It assessed the full impact of these foods, from farm to fork, on land use, climate change emissions, freshwater use and water pollution (eutrophication) and air pollution (acidification).
“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,†said Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led the research. “It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,†he said, as these only cut greenhouse gas emissions.
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