In
order to avoid runaway climate change, industrialized countries have
agreed to a 2050 goal of a 90% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
compared to pre-industrial levels.
Toward this end, scientists
are emphasizing the need for behavioral, rather than technological,
approaches for faster results. This is especially true in the area of
food.
Multiple studies have suggested that reducing or
eliminating meat consumption would be more cost effective and quicker in
reducing greenhouse gas emissions than attempting to develop
technologies to capture the large-scale emissions involved in meat
production.
Dr. Juha-Matti Katajajuuri, senior researcher at MTT
Agrifood Research Finland, evaluated the climate impacts of various
typical Finnish meals, ranging from meat-based to vegan.
He
found that vegetarian main courses had a 50-60% smaller climate impact
compared to their meat-based counterparts. Dr. Katajajuuri also
highlighted the likelihood of obtaining more immediate results from a
behavioral approach.
Dr. Juha-Matti Katajajuuri – Senior researcher, MTT Agrifood Research Finland (M):
It is a lot more challenging to find easy and new technological
solutions by which we can reduce the environmental effects of food
production.
VOICE: Industrial ecologist and climate scientist Dr.
Peter Tom Jones of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, agreed,
saying that personal human action rather than technical change is the
key for greener food consumption.
Dr. Peter Tom Jones –
Industrial ecologist and author, Vegetarian (M): This entails: more
local chains, more organic food, less dependence on oil.
In that manner you can drastically reduce the environmental impact of the production issue.
But then a second essential component of the reduction in the food sector has to do with our meat and fish consumption.
VOICE:
Dr. Jones, a vegetarian himself, stated that if governments encouraged
the consumption and production of organic vegan foods, the international
reducing of emissions by 90% would be attainable, with added health
benefits.
Peter Tom Jones, PhD (M): We can easily go to a reduction of 90% if associated with the agro-ecological food model, with even much healthier nutrition.
So there would be less nutritional disease, less cardiac and blood vessel disease, less diabetes, less obesity, etc.
VOICE:
Our sincere appreciation, Dr. Katajajuuri, Dr. Jones and associates for
your research in the crucial area of food production emissions.
May
all governments and co-citizens start now to eliminate costly animal
products and switch to organic plant-based fare to halt climate change.
Supreme Master Ching Hai has often emphasized the priority of dietary
change needed to save the planet, as during a September 2009
videoconference in South Korea.
Supreme Master Ching Hai:
In order to call ourselves a low-carbon or carbon-free society, we must
eliminate our meat consumption, because that is the number one cause
for climate change – that is, our meat consumption.
In fact, if
we focus on shifting people to be vegan, it will save us much more money
than green technology, and of course it’s much more effective.
And
I urge you, the government leaders, because our time is running out, we
have to act on this now. Please explain to your co-citizens this
important truth and tell them we must work together to become
animal-free consumers.
We have a very short time to save our
planet. We have a great planet to save. We have a great precious
treasure, that is, our children, to save.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=limits-on-greenhouse-gas-emissions http://www.mtt.fi/english/http://www.se2009.eu/polopoly_fs/1.24468!menu/standard/file/Juha-Matti%20Kkatajajuuri.pdf http://www.petertomjones.be/content/blogsection/6/27/
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