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/

AS THE ROMANS SAY, "RARA SUNT CARA". RARE IS VALUABLE. (CHINA)

The changes in diet occurring in China carry rippling effects around the world. What China’s hungry for makes a difference, said Janet Larsen of the Earth Policy Institute, adding that, “when a few people jump it may cause a ripple, but when a billion people jump, it’s a major shockwave.”

This week, we will be momentarily going back in time in China to compare eating habits in the past to today's eating habits.

Sorry, it might not be all that fancy...

Last week we focused on the consumption trends in USA, this week we are focusing on an even bigger area and an even bigger problem. China now eats twice as much meat as the United States. This is evident in the diagram below. Meat consumption in China is increasing for various reasons and we will be inspecting the main reasons for this trend in today's post. 

Meat consumption compared between China and U.S.

China in 1980's:

Meat was seen as a luxury; each Chinese ate just 13kg of meat, the equivalent to one tenth of a pig a year. On the other hand, beef was so rare it was nicknamed "Millionaire's meat". 

As China started to emerge from a state of poverty, meat consumption increased. As the Romans say, "Rara Sunt Cara", Rare is valuable. Since China's incomes were, and still are increasing many traditional Chinese foods are being switched to the 'luxury foods'. Instead of rice, individuals are replacing this with meats. Beginning in the 1980s, officials enacted measures to promote livestock production, including support for development of a feed-milling industry and subsidized imports of more productive animal breeds. Such incentives has led to incorrect information in the economy and incorrect incentives; individuals became more enthusiastic about livestock production and began to see it positively.

Dinner would probably look something like this in 1980's

China today:

Currently, China is a big player not only on the demand side, but the supply side too. “China produces and consumes about half of the pork in the world,” Schuele said." Consumption and demand of meat is increasing as low income families gradually climb the ladder up to become middle income families. The meals an average Chinese middle income family is eating now, would be a feast to their parents. 

Moreover, Meat consumption is doubling every 10 years." In all, the country now eats more than 60m tonnes of meat a year; equivalent to 240 million cows, or 600 million pigs, or 24 billion chickens. These facts suggest a very large scale problem that is arising not only in the respects of greenhouse gases emitted in the process but also feed needed for the livestock. Since meat consumption is increasing, it has led to individuals noticing this trend and moving towards setting up small farms. A shift in those with household and small farm productions to larger scale meat factories. This seems to be showing a cyclical trend, in which higher demands lead to higher supply and this reduces prices, such that demand can increase even more.

A meal in China today

Benefits:

So far we have focused on the trends in meat production and consumption in China. Having read my previous posts, one can assume that the increasing trends are detrimental to the planet. It is true in some respects, but on a micro level, it has actually shown a big improvement to the Chinese people's lives.

In lifting 300 million people out of poverty over the past 30 years, China also saw an improvement in diets that made the country healthier. According to the World Food Programme, a six-year-old boy today in China is 6kg heavier and 6cm taller than his counterpart at the start of economic reforms in 1978.

Although it may be true that the health conditions of the people in China may have improved, this correlation may not be directly as a result of the consumption of meat. It could be argued that due to increasing incomes, families can now afford to buy more varieties of foods. In poorer areas of China, families may be eating the exact same foods at each meal; this means the nutrients absorbed would be very limited. By having higher incomes, more varied vegetables could be introduced into the Chinese diet instead of putting emphasis on the role of meat.

Beef:

Beef has not become as popular in China because cattle in feedlots gobble up about 7 pounds of grain for each pound of weight gain. For pigs, the feeding ratio is 3 to 1, and for chickens it is 2 to 1. With one fifth of the world's population and limited land and water supplies, China has had to rely heavily on the more-efficient forms of animal protein. 

This is good news for the environment since beef is the biggest contributor to global warming as discussed in previous posts. On the other hand, other meats have been a big hit in China instead.

Pork:

Over half of the world's pigs now live in China. By the end of the year, it is projected that there will be almost twice as many pigs in China as people in America. In the last few decades, China has developed the world's largest pork industry to feed a rising middle class. A quickly rising appetite for pork in China has fueled the sudden jump in production. In mid 1970s, an average Chinese citizen ate 8kg of pork a year. Now, each person eats about 39kg of pork a year. 

China has now overtaken American pork consumption

Poultry:

Poultry production never existed prior to 1978. Chicken flocks in China have grown rapidly. Since the raising of chickens are much simpler and easier than raising ruminants, China has been a big producer of Chickens. The demand and consumption of poultry is also growing.

Although some may perceive that consuming poultry is not as bad for the environment since chickens do not emit methane the way ruminants do, the main environmental concerns are derived from the chicken feed. According to earth-policy.org, more than 60% of the world soybean exports, nearly all from the United States, Brazil and Argentina, go to China. These crops are very often grown in highly unsustainable conditions; ways which involve deforestation which leads to a reduction of biodiversity. 

Sorry, you just can't win either way I'm afraid.

Happy Meatless Monday! Tune in next Monday for a new post on UK meat consumption trends!

WATER'S YOUR PROBLEM?

A new report from FAO says livestock production contributes to the world's most pressing environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.

This week I was able to cosy up to read 'Livestock's Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options'; a United Nations report released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations. So far we have focused on the issues surrounding greenhouse gas emissions as a result of meat production and the responsibility of the consumers in contributing to the meat consumption and trend. 

Having read the report, it has highlighted a few important things on the correlation between the livestock sector and global environmental change. I will be writing about other vital environmental problems related to meat production in later posts, and will be looking at possible solutions outlined by the report. These solutions are mainly focused on the technical and political levels in reducing the environmental harm that has and will be caused as a result of meat production.

Today we will touch upon water use and the solutions from a political level to cover how global environmental change can be reduced.

The world is slowly opening their eyes to more issues from freshwater shortage, scarcity and depletion. 64% of the world'spopulation is expected to live in water-stressed basins by 2025. Thelivestock sector accounts for up to 8% of the global human water use (mainly through irrigation for feedcrops).

i) Water Overuse

It is estimated that it takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat (about 5-8 servings of meat). For comparison it takes only 25 gallons of water to produce one pound of wheat (enough to make one loaf of whole wheat bread). Irrigation for feed crops contributes significantly to this overuse of water. Soy and corn are heavily irrigated crops in the U.S. and are used extensively for livestock feed. Most of the grain produced in this country is for livestock production.

Since a large proportion of the grain produced is feed for livestock shows precisely how the grains could be instead, directly created into food for humans. Thus the extra step of feeding livestock (along with the negative environmental impacts associated) could be skipped. 

ii) Water Contamination and Pollution:

The main contributors to water pollution include animal waste, antibiotics and hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilisers and pesticides used in feed production and sediments from eroded pastures.

Livestock operations overuse water and may lead to water contamination. The large amount of waste pro­duced on factory farms exceeds the capacity of nearby cropland to absorb it. As a result, manure goes from being a valuable agricultural resource to what is essentially toxic waste. Nitrates, heavy metals, and antibiotics present in manure can seep into groundwater and pollute surface water. Furthermore, when manure lagoons leak or burst, again, nitrates become exposed to the water we drink. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned that E. Coli, salmonella, and Giardia found in dairy cattle waste can contaminate drinking water and cause acute gastroenteritis, fever, kidney failure, and even death. It not only affects humans,  but also the sea animals too. There have been numerous instances where this has killed off thousands of fish. No wonder people are saying fish are becoming more scarce!

Water pollution leads to fish death

Water pollution can lead to several undesired results, it contributes to eutrophication; a process where water bodies receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth. It could also lead to "dead" zones/hypoxia in coastal areas, this is causes regions of water that lack oxygen necessary to support animal life and as a consequence, become a cause for extinction. Not only does water pollution affect animal life, but also degrades coral reefs. Apart from affecting animals and plants, water pollution causes human health problems due to reusing water in the water cycle and can cause an emergence of antibiotic resistance.

Livestock also affects the replenishment of freshwater by compacting soil, reducing infiltration, degrading the banks of watercourses, drying up floodplains and lowering water tables.

Please save us...

How can water pollution be avoided?

The best way to mitigate water pollution would be to better manage animal waste. This is important as animal waste can cause excess nutrients and pathogens to enter and harm water quality; instead the waste could be reused as a natural fertiliser for crops. Furthermore, better diets for the livestock can improve nutrient absorption.

Possible solutions:

Since water pollution is a problem for not only plants and animals, but humans too, it means humans should put more care into reducing water pollution where possible. I have broken down some possible solutions in improving efficiency of water  use. The first solution is to improve the efficiency of irrigation systems such that there are no unnecessary water losses.

The fact that water is often free and easily available causes the 'free rider effect' used in Economics, where a resource may be over exploited since it is priced at 0. To avoid this, water should be priced at a level that takes the externality into account. Similarly, there should be regulatory quantitative frameworks to limit usage. 

To reduce concentrated areas of livestock rearing especially near cities, zoning regulations and taxes can help to control this. As a result, the harmful effects on human health can be restricted too. 

Happy Meatless Monday!

Tune in next Monday for a new post on Land Degradation.

HOW TO TRAIN A RUMINANT

Methane (CH4)  is emitted naturally and through human sources. Natural sources make up 36% of all Methane emissions and this includes wetlands, turmite and the oceans. The remainder is emitted via human activities; this includes landfills, livestock farming and use of fossil fuels. Methane can be removed from the atmosphere through natural processes in soil. But for a long time now human activities have been creating methane emissions much more rapidly than the Earth can remove them, increasing global methane levels.

Methane's lifetime in the atmosphere is shorter than carbon dioxide, but "animals produce 37 percent of methane, which has more than 20 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide."  Additionally, as shown in the pie chart below, the human sources of methane are predominantly due to livestock farming and fossil fuel production. This is indicative of the importance and detrimental impact of methane emissions.

So how exactly do livestock emit methane?

If you want the short answer to how animals emit methane, look no further, we do it all the time: burps, farts and breathing.

No kidding.

And the long answer goes like this.

Cows come under a the mammal group called ruminants which acquire nutrients from plant based products. They have four stomachs; where the food is digested. The stomach is filled with bacteria, and when food is digested, methane is also manufactured in the process. 
(If only I had four stomachs...)

Furthermore, in the animal manure storage tanks, methane is produced. Imagine the extent of methane produced;

• Britain has millions of ruminants, including 10 million cows. Cows contribute 3 percent of Britain's overall greenhouse gas emissions and 25 to 30 percent of its methane.
• Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas emitted in the United States from human activities. In 2012, CH4 accounted for about 9% of all U.S.greenhouse gas emissions from human activities. 

Globally, over 60% of total CH4 emissions come from human activities.

How to train a ruminant:

Give your cow some garlic to reduce methane emissions, apparently...

A three-year study, begun in April 2007 by Welsh scientists, is examining if adding garlic to cow feed can reduce their methane production. The study is ongoing, but early results indicate that garlic cuts cow flatulence in half by attacking methane-producing microbes living in cows' stomachs [Source: BBC News]. The researchers are also looking to see if the addition of garlic affects the quality of the meat or milk produced and even if the animals get BAD BREATH.

Happy Meatless Monday! Tune in next Monday for a new post on Nitrous Oxide emissions.

TO REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS, PLEASE HOLD YOUR BREATH

Joke.

I sincerely hope it wasn't too late to say the title was a joke...

A lot of us (including me) are clouded by the idea that by recycling every last bit of recyclable material, not driving at all, using alternative energy sources and growing plants in your back garden can do a whole lot in reducing carbon dioxide, thus keeping climate change to a minimum. I mean, every time I scolded my sister for leaving the light on without needing it made me feel like a saint. (Why so serious?) My parents even considered changing to a hybrid car!

Have you changed to a hybrid car?

Did you know?

"You could exchange your “regular” car for a hybrid Toyota Prius and, by doing so, prevent about 1 ton of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere each year, but according to the University of Chicago, being vegan is more effective in the fight against global warming; a vegan is responsible for the release of approximately 1.5 fewer tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each year than is a meat-eater."

Well, we are not entirely wrong in thinking this can help us curb climate change. Although these measures are contributing to the improvement of the lives of impending generations, it is worth looking into the bigger picture and the major driver of the actual problem.

Allow me some time to break down precisely why our world is a bombshell that is about to explode.

What is global warming?

Global warming is caused by the mixture of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O). These are the three main causes of climate change. Not enough of us realise that animal agriculture is one of the largest contributor to global warming through the immense carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions.

How does animal agriculture lead to increases in CO2?

"Producing one calorie from animal protein requires 11 times as much fossil fuel input—releasing 11 times as much carbon dioxide—as does producing a calorie from plant protein. Feeding massive amounts of grain and water to farmed animals and then killing them and processing, transporting, and storing their flesh is extremely energy-intensive"

Below is a break down of the steps in animal agriculture which require high amounts of energy and thus releases a lot of CO2 (Taken from Get Vegucated Documentary):

FUN FACT:

Animal manure releases CO2 as well.

If you're into tables and figures, there is a cohesive break down of CO2 emitted in grams per kilograms of food from its production, according to timeforchange.org.

CO2-Emissions (in g CO2e per kg food):

Food group	Food	CO2-Emissions (in g per kg food)
Meat and sausages	Beef	13'300
	Raw sausages	8'000
	Ham (pork)	4'800
	Poeltry	3'500
	Pork	3'250
Milk- and dairy products	Butter	23'800
	Hard cheese	8'500
	Cream	7'600
	Eggs	1'950
	Quark (curd)	1'950
	Farmer cheese	1'950
	Margarine	1'350
	Yogurt	1'250
	Milk	950
Fruits	Apples	550
	Strawberries	300
Baked goods	Brown bread	750
	White bread	650

We can also break this down by looking at carbon dioxide emissions per calorie:

As we can see, in both instances, the carbon dioxide emissions of foods differ according to its process of production, but it is also very clear that despite different measures; meat and particularly beef has the biggest impact on the environment due to its highest carbon dioxide emissions. 

Thus perhaps we should all think twice about what we consume and the amount we consume, as much as how much energy we use/waste!

P.S. If you live in the US, please don't forget to participate in Food Day on 24th of this month! http://www.foodday.org/about

P.S.S. Food Day inspires Americans to change their diets and our food policies. Every October 24, thousands of events all around the country bring Americans together to celebrate and enjoy real food and to push for improved food policies.

Happy Meatless Monday! 

Tune in next Monday for a new post on Methane emissions!

MEET THE MEAT CULTURE!

In the developing world, people eat about 30 kilograms of meat a year. But consumers in the industrial world eat more than 80 kilograms per person each year. - World Watch Institute


Why is the livestock sector so important?

• The livestock sector accounts for 40% of agricultural GDP
• It employs 1.3 billion people
• 1/3 of humanity's protein intake is provided by livestock
• Meat consumption contributes to the cause of obesity
• However, it could also rectify undernourishment

It's easy to just follow the crowd. It's easy to blame the society and its norms, whether they're putting pressure on us, or restricting us. 

How did the meat culture start?

When human beings moved out of the equatorial areas where plant foods were unavailable year round, humans began to hunt for their food. This meant that meat consumption was necessary for survival. This was mainly in the periods of severe droughts or in seasons where crops cannot grow.

Eventually, the consumption of meat became almost part of the culture in those countries. As a result, meat consumption has integrated into these people's lives and so humans began to eat it anyway; because it was cultural and had a deeper meaning. (Taken from Get Vegucated Documentary)

 
However, now we can have access to plant food year round due to improved technology to allow imports, why do we continue to eat meat unnecessarily?


 

The fact is, when something is 'trendy', that thing becomes unnecessarily popular and essentially desirable; often without reason.

As our fellow friends, the Economists would say, a trend is a reason for an increase in demand for a product. Consequently leading to an increase in supply for the product, shifting the equilibrium, and thus increasing quantity (and sometimes the price).

Remember our dear burger?

This worldwide consumer trend, (in the Google Trends screenshot in previous post) has contributed to the overall increase in demand for meat. Of course, there are other underlying reasons for higher meat demand over the years too, such as higher incomes and more efficient transportation methods.

As shown below, the world meat production has been increasing at a very high rate;

 

Global meat production increased by 2.6 percent in 2010 to 290.6 million tons, an increase from the 0.8 percent growth rate of 2009. Even with this minimal increase, however, worldwide meat production has tripled since the 1970s. The increase continutes the steady growth of the past decade. Since 2000, global meat production has risen by 20 percent.

But why are humans becoming more and more carnivorous?

 

1) Countries becoming wealthier
 
 The consumption of meat and the level of income are positively correlated. Meat and dairy are replacing staple foods due to higher incomes and wealth.

 
 
World Watch Institute, written in 'Meat Production Continues to Rise',
 

"Experts predict that by 2050 nearly twice as much meat will be produced as today, for a prejected total of more than 465 million tons. For more than a decade, the strongest increases in production have been in the developed world in 1995 more meat and dairy products were produced in developing than in industrial countries for the first time, and this trend has continues ever since. In fact in 2007, at least 60 percent of meat was produced in developing nations."

 
2) Population growth
 
With the population growing exponentially, humans need to find more resources to ensure survival. 
 
 
3) Urbanisation
 

"Urbanisation stimulates improvements in infrastructure, including cold chains, which permit trade in perishable goods."

4) Developing countries

Due to the declining prices in developing countries, the average family is more willing and able to have meat in their diets and thus meat consumption has increased. Furthermore, the idea that meat is a luxury food product is causing the food palette to change from cheaper foods (like vegetables) to meat. 

Just because of natural human behaviour; to have the desire to jump on the bandwagon, and want to be seen as desirable by our peers, meat production has become a growing industry.

In effect, its digging our own graves and the graves of our future.


IF WE'RE NOT DEMANDING IT... THERE IS NO NEED TO PRODUCE IT.

   

Happy Meatless Monday! 

Tune in next Monday for a new post on the effect of animal agriculture on global warming.

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE "FOODIES"

Dear "Foodies",

We met at a fast food restaurant, a friend's house, in a convenience store, wherever, you chose me, out of an array of colourful options.

You took pride in the 100+ likes you gained on Instagram from photos with me. 

You devoured every moment with me, because I was there when you were lonely, and I was there when you had a great night with your best friends. I've seen you in all your glory, celebrations for passing your exams, crying over the friend who betrayed you, and being sick on your bathroom floor after a night out. 

So it began like that. I set out to lure you in, and now you're determined for more.

Ultimately, I'm so glad I'm the latest trend. Because quite frankly, people used to neglect us quite a bit.

A sincere thank you, for choosing me.

I look foward to seeing you very soon,
Your favourite,

MOUTHWATERING JUICY BURGER (with extra mature cheddar cheese, gherkins, extra layer of meat, jalapeno, mushrooms, pickles, tomato sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, caramelised onions, chilli, spinach, bacon, fried egg, and more cheese, with my dear friend, fries and the handful of salad that no one seems to touch.)

---------------------

Having been taken by storm with the burger boom, with over 3million posts with the hashtag #burger on Instagram up to date, humans are craving every type of burger out there in every corner of the globe.  This is evident by just searching the term 'burger' in Google Trends, which portrays the ever increasing interest in burgers and its popularity in a variety of countries.

Global production of meat is forecasted to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/01 to 465 million tonnes in 2050. The environmental impact per unit of livestock production must be cut by half, just to avoid increasing the level of damage beyond its present level.


With entrepreneurs taking this opportunity to exploit this trend, crazy burger ideas have been brought to the market, such as the 'Glamburger' costing an arm and a leg (in other words, £1,100) in Chelsea, in exchange for the most extravagant ingredients which include black truffle, Himalayan salt and a gold leaf.

Ultimately, "burgers are culinary survivors: They can adapt no matter where mainstream tastes flow." The burger trend can evolve in ways to ensure its survival with new trendy ingredients.

After this introduction, you may be seduced by the idea of reaching for a big juicy burger whilst you finish reading this post, perhaps its worth stopping for a minute to realise the real value of what you're eating.

Yes, we've been there, taught that. Burgers (and pizza, chips, soda bla bla bla) are bad for your health, don't eat them. Well, we all thought we're old enough to deal with what we put into our bodies, and lets face it, all this controversy is only applicable to small kids who can't control themselves.

Wrong.

In the traditional sense, yes, burgers are bad for you. Too much fat, sodium and whatnot.

But on a macro level, eating burgers (and meat in general for that matter) is harming the earth. How so, you ask.

A report from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) cited livestock production as "one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global." 

"The environmental damage by the livestock sector goes far beyond the sector; it also goes beyond agriculture."

DID YOU KNOW? 

Livestock production accounts for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions; more than the world's cars and SUV's combined.

When put into perspective, those juicy addictive burgers are no longer just a health risk but a risk to the world. 

The consumption of meat is a huge interest to me personally, as I have always lived under the impression that a bit of meat is good for the body and have never thought twice about how it could be harmful to the environment. Being a 'good human' (if I should say so myself), recycling where possible, walking instead of driving a car and even keeping food waste as compost made me think I was putting in more than my two cents, surely! After reading more on meat consumption, I have become intrigued in the scientific journals that point to the harmful effects on the planet.

Throughout this blog, I will be providing more information regarding meat consumption, its impacts and potential effects on global warming and other environmental impacts as a consequence of meat production. 

Make sure to come back to check for the latest posts!

Happy Meatless Monday!

Tune in next Monday for a new post on the origins of the meat trend!