TO THE TRUTH I NEVER KNEW, NOW I CAN MAKE IT WITHOUT YOU

HAPPY MONDAY!

Firstly, thank you so much for taking this journey with me to find out more about livestock production and the impacts we are making through unconscious everyday decisions. I enjoyed writing this blog much more than I expected, and I am so thankful for having the chance to give it a go. Whilst you may have learnt a lot from this blog, it has been a learning curve for me too, and I've constantly been growing as I learn more about the information I'm digging out.

Although this is the end of my Geography assessment, but I would really appreciate it if you left me any comments with your thoughts and if you have any great website links for me to learn even more! I would LOVE to read it!

So, into the nitty gritty stuff, I'm going to just briefly outline the main solutions to the meat problem.

1. Government

The government needs to find ways to discourage major producers from rearing livestock near city areas through either zoning, taxes or incentives. For example, in Thailand, there are high taxes on poultry production within a 100km radius of Bangkok. This has been effective in reducing poultry production near Bangkok.

2. Waste management

Use manure as a fertiliser rather than polluting waters.

3. You

Become as vegetarian/vegan as you possibly can. “Eat meat, but less often — make it special,” Mark Sutton, lead author of a U.N. Environment Programme 2013 study on meat consumption, said. “Portion size is key. Many portions are too big, more than you want to eat. Think about a change of culture that says, ‘I like the taste, but I don’t need so much of it.’”

I want to leave you with something very important that I have learnt through this journey with you.

Understand that you, as a consumer, have a level of social responsibility. What you spend your money on is the key to change (by altering demand, it can alter supply).

Mooney says "If they are informed that they do have choices to help build a  more sustainable and equitable world, they can make better choices."

Finally, a quick reminder of the serious extent of animals slaughtered just for the plate on your table.

You've been such amazing readers every Monday, I really hope you're able to join my Meatless Mondays, whether I have a new post every Monday or not! To make me very happy, please sign the Meatless Monday pledge!!

http://www.meatlessmonday.com/pledge-to-go-meatless/

SOCIAL VEGANS AVOID 'MEET'

American diets (and Western diets in general) tend to lean towards the 'meat lover' on the scale of things (although developing countries are catching up too). 

Where do you think you fit in with the five categories below?

For each of the diets, the results are based on food supply, so it does not take into account the way consumers store and transport the foods. (The methodology for this can be found here.) 

"Reducing the intake of meat and other animal based products can make a valuable contribution to climate change mitigation, other work has demonstrated other environmental and health benefits of a reduced meat diet. National governments that are considering an update of dietary recommendations in order to define a 'healthy, sustainable diet' must incorporate the recommendation to lower the consumption of animal-based products."

Currently, vegetarianism as depicted above, is very high in parts of India with 375 millions of vegetarians. This may be as a direct result of their culture and religion and traditional ideologies in India. On the other hand, those in Western countries like USA and the EU are lagging far behind India with only a few million vegetarians/vegans.

In the average diet animal products make up 60% of emissions despite accounting for just a quarter of food energy.

For the Meat Lover beef consumption causes almost half of emissions from just a tenth of food energy.

In the No Beef diet all the reductions from the Average foodprint come by switching  from beef to chicken.

The difference between the Vegetarian and Vegan diets arises from dairy consumption being switched to a mix of cereals and vegetables.

This data really shocked me, so I thought I had to share it with you! Science shows that becoming vegan is the best way to save our planet and fight global warming. According to the official handbook for Live Earth, reports show that not eating meat is the “single most effective thing you can do.” However, it is very beneficial to precisely lay out the foodprints to get a clearer picture of how one does not have to specifically make the full commitment like those individuals in the Vegucated documentary did. By just substituting a few of the foods you eat most, to foods that produce lower carbon emissions, one can still make a big difference to the environment. The website explains this perfectly;

A Vegetarian’s foodprint is about two thirds of the average American and almost half that of a meat lover. For a Vegan it is even lower. But perhaps most interestingly, eating chicken instead of beef cuts a quarter of emissions in one simple step.

On a happy note, it seems there is definitely a growing portion of the global population who are interested in vegetarian benefits. Below is a chart of page views on Wikipedia for the pages on "Vegetarianism" and "Veganism".

Another incentive to substitute beef with chicken; production of poultry is much cheaper since they take up less space and are more efficient to feed than other livestock. 

So, you will be saving money too!

Happy Meatless Monday! Tune in NEXT MONDAY for THE FINAL POST!

A LITTLE TASTE OF THE OTHER SIDE

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Thought I'd leave a lighter post for you all to read in the New Year's so let's take a look behind the scenes of your favourite meal at your favourite restaurant. What are the responsibilities of chefs and how are they related to improving social awareness of what is 'good' for you and what is 'bad'?

The Social Responsibilities of Chefs:

http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/social-responsibility-chefs-consumers/618763/