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/

GET VEGUCATED

This week I came across a documentary which highlighted the journey of a few Americans changing their American diets to a vegan diet. Being able to see Americans go from one extreme to the other; being heavy meat eaters and transitioning to clean plant based palettes is actually very inspiring.

The journeys show how each person from varying backgrounds went through ups and downs through the transition phase and dictates the possible trip ups we may face which are all rather understandable.

Take a look at the documentary to see how they change their diets and the explanations on environmental impacts but also, whether livestock production is as humane as we imagine!


If you only want to see the environmental impact explanation only, skip to 35.00mins! 

Happy watching!

Perhaps even UCL should get vegucated!!

These are some posters I spotted around UCL...

Although the information may be true, and of course we should all think twice before using up resources, but I have never EVER come across a poster in canteens to say 'Did you know of the impacts of choosing this meal of steak and chips?'

COUNTRIES COMPARED

Today we will be focusing on the worldwide meat production and consumption.

If you were interested in the previous post (the table with a breakdown of meat and milk consumption per country/region) here is a more comprehensive review of the meat production and consumption for ya! 

For those who prefer a more visual breakdown;

1) Worldwide Meat Production

The production of meats in USA and Europe is increasing, however this is equally matched by increasing prices due to the high costs associated to livestock production. However, pigs and poultry are doing well in the market since both species do not need a lot of feed and can be kept in confined spaces.

2) Top Ten International Meat Industry:

Four out of the ten are based in the US; Cargill, Smithfield Foods, Tyson Foods and Hormel Foods. Three are located in Brazil; JBS, BRF and Marfrig. The rest are in Denmark, Netherlands and Japan.

Looking more carefully at the estimated meat consumption and the forecast, it seems that the increasing meat trend may not be so applicable to all countries.

3) Demand in the rich world

This may actually reflect on the fact that the 'richer' may be positively correlated to being more 'educated' and thus may be seeing a reduction in meat consumption. Despite this, only in less than half of the cases shown in the diagram above, shows a decline in meat consumption. Even so, the decline is very minimal and would be outweighed by the increases in meat demand. For example, by 2020, China's poultry production will increase by 37%, Brazil's will increase 28% and U.S. will increase by 16%. Nevertheless, the fact that there are forecasts for some countries lowering their meat demand is a good sign and goes to show that perhaps we can turn the tables.

Having identified and compared the different meat consumption patterns of different countries, we will proceed to look more carefully into specific regions in future posts!

Happy Meatless Monday! Tune in next Monday for a new FUN MYSTERY POST! Look forward to it!

GLOBAL WARMING CONCLUSIONS

After our discussion on the main contributors to global warming and environmental change, here is a wrap up of what we can possibly conclude from research and data.

Possible conclusions and predictions:

Overall, the increasing global demand for meat is most likely to negative effect the environment. 

1) Demand

Since the demand for meat is increasing (perhaps even exponentially) through developing countries, increase in incomes, population growth and urbanisation, the amount of livestock would probably increase since suppliers and those in the industry will see this as a profitable opportunity. Predicted by WHO, annual meat production is projected to increase from 218 million tonnes in 1997 - 1999 to 376 million tonnes by 2030.

2) Supply - Large scale production

Since more space will be needed for large scale production of meat, whether it is areas for the livestock to live and graze, but also slaughter houses. This means there are implications for these processes to become more closely located to urban centres. By being in close proximity with urban centres, a range of environmental and health risks will potentially exist, such as those mentioned before. Land and water requirements would lead to a degradation and depletion of resources. 

3) Urbanisation and development

Due to urbanisation, development in certain countries and technological improvements, transportation of meats are becoming more efficient. This has also spurred on a 'taste for meat'  This is evident in city dwellers who have a varied diet rich in animal proteins and fats, and characterized by higher consumption of meat, poultry, milk and other dairy products. This can be seen in the table below. There is a significant increase in meat consumption in Brazil and China. However it can be seen that the consumption in North America and other developed countries remain at a much higher level. 

Per capita consumption of livestock products

Region	Meat (kg per year)			Milk (kg per year)
	1964 - 1966	1997 - 1999	2030	1964 - 1966	1997 - 1999	2030
World	24.2	36.4	45.3	73.9	78.1	89.5
Developing countries	10.2	25.5	36.7	28.0	44.6	65.8
Near East and North Africa	11.9	21.2	35.0	68.6	72.3	89.9
Sub-Saharan Africaa	9.9	9.4	13.4	28.5	29.1	33.8
Latin America and the Caribbean	31.7	53.8	76.6	80.1	110.2	139.8
East Asia	8.7	37.7	58.5	3.6	10.0	17.8
South Asia	3.9	5.3	11.7	37.0	67.5	106.9
Industrialized countries	61.5	88.2	100.1	185.5	212.2	221.0
Transition countries	42.5	46.2	60.7	156.6	159.1	178.7

^a Excludes South Africa.

Source: Adapted from reference 4 with the permission of the publisher.

As shown, the global demand is increasing in general, but is especially prominent in the BRICS, the five main emerging national economies which represent the trend in growing meat demand within countries with increasing income and wealth. 

The flip side

Although meat consumption can be seen to be increasing in the BRICS, it has actually stagnated in the U.S. according to Business Insider. Perhaps it can be argued that more educated and industrialised the countries are, despite having seen a rapid increase in meat production since 1950s, it has recently stagnated. For example, in the U.S., consumption has dropped by 9% from 2007 to 2012. This could be due to low-meat trends, and more educated consumers who are more concerned with the source of the meats. Furthermore, due to the horse meat scandal which was marketed as beef in early 2013, consumers have become more cautious about what they are eating and the credibility of food labels.

Conclusions:

Perhaps the key conclusion here, is trying to educate consumers on the health risks, environmental risks and the reality of how livestock are treated which can then reduce demand for meat. Although policy measures can be put into place to help reduce the harmful effects, consumers also play a big part too.

According to www.virtualcentre.org, the best way to improve efficiency is to price natural resources with the externalities considered. This is because when public resources are underpriced, it causes overexploitation. As a result, such a pricing strategy is able to allow individuals who use the resources to be mindful of the real cost of its usage.

Efforts here can lead to large and multiple payoffs.

Possible solutions:

To reduce greenhouse gases that have been and will be emitted as a result of the livestock sector, a few solutions have been raised in 'Livestock's Long Shadow':

• Restore historical losses through conservation tillage
• Agroforestry (a more sustainable land use system in which trees or shrubs are grown around or among crops to promote more healthy, sustainable and productive land usage)
• Restoration of desertified pastures
• Methane emissions: improved diets to reduce enteric fermentation, improved manure management, biogas
• Nitrogen emissions: improved diets and manure management
• Use tradable rights for natural resources
• Remove damaging subsidies and alter the price for the resources in order to take into account the environmental externalities

How can we move on from here?

Educate yourself about meat production and consumption. So stay tuned... *wink

 

Happy Meatless Monday! Tune in next Monday for a new post on the consumption patterns by country!

BIODIVERSITY

"Conservation International has identified 35 global hotspots for biodiversity, characterized by exceptional levels of plant endemism and serious levels of habitat loss. Of these, 23 are reported to be affected by livestock production."

So, what is habitat destruction?

THIS IS HABITAT DESTRUCTION.

Habitat destruction is altering the environment in which organisms live such that the conditions of the environment is no longer fit for their requirements. This may lead to them moving to other more suitable areas that suit their needs to survive, or could ultimately lead to extinction. Habitat destruction is currently ranked the highest in causing animal extinction worldwide.

Although the above quote suggests that 23 out of 35 of the global hot spots for biodiversity is affected by livestock production, the website does not then go on to explain how the country is classified as 'affected' and does not include an explanation as to how it is measured. Nonetheless, it is a very significant figure and should not be ignored.

World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species shows that most of the world's threatened species are suffering habitat loss where livestock are a factor.

If you're interested, hop onto the website: http://www.iucnredlist.org/ and refine your search by changing the categories (to find out about livestock production affects, choose the option 'Threats' and then choose 'Agriculture').

Possible solutions:

Wild areas need to be protected as much as possible, either through buffer zones which can protect a conservation area or civil or criminal penalties. An example of this is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 written by the Australian Government under the Department of the Environment. They have enforcement mechanisms for suspected non-compliances which include such penalties to deter individuals or corporations from harming biodiversity. 

Additionally, more incentives should be created by the government, for example through subsidies which can help the livestock producers to be more willing to conserve such areas and protect biodiversity.

Happy Meatless Monday! Tune in next Monday for a new post on a wrap up of the environmental harm of livestock