This is the message from a report due this fall from London University’s Imperial College, supported by the environmental protection group, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), with contributions from technology consultancy Accenture, Cranfield University and English Farming and Food Partnerships.

The paper focuses on how best to reduce the 5.7 million tons of greenhouse gases released by the United Kingdom’s food sector, which need to be eliminated to meet the government’s mandatory 2050 emission levels.

According to the report’s preliminary findings, avoiding meat and dairy are the most efficient ways to reach this goal, as this sector accounts for 31% of all greenhouse gases from the food industry.

The report suggests that retailers can aid in the effort by promoting the sale of plant-based substitutes for meat and dairy.

Professor Tim Lang - Professor of Food Policy at City University London, Advisor to World Health Organisation :Meat consumption globally needs to come down; the evidence seems to point to that unequivocally; animal production is going to have to come down.

Imperial College, World Wildlife Fund and all other contributors, our heartfelt thanks for your research that so clearly highlights the vegan lifestyle that will bring the fastest, most cooling benefits to our planet.

Supreme Master Ching Hai, who has often offered her guidance in this time of our planetary crisis, further explained the tolls of livestock raising for meat and dairy during a June 2008 videoconference with our Association members in London.

Reference
http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/8887/Meat_and_dairy_cuts_again_urged_to_save_the_planet.html
http://nutrition-news.blogspot.com/2009/07/meat-dairy-cuts-needed-says-research.html