Greenhouse gas fear over increased levels of meat eating-gctid124126

[Ajamu]

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-29007758

Greenhouse gas fear over increased levels of meat eating

By Roger Harrabin                 BBC environment analyst

                                     
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Global  consumption of meat needs to fall - to ensure future demand for food  can be met and to help protect the environment - a study says.

         Research from Cambridge and Aberdeen universities estimates  greenhouse gases from food production will go up 80% if meat and dairy  consumption continues to rise at its current rate.

         That will make it harder to meet global targets on limiting emissions.

         The study urges eating two portions of red meat and seven of poultry per week.

         However that call comes as the world's cities are seeing a boom in burger restaurants.

         The research highlights that more and more people from around  the world are adopting American-style diets, leading to a sizeable  increase in meat and dairy consumption.

         It says if this continues, more and more forest land or  fields currently used for aAmwle crops will be converted for use by  livestock as the world's farmers battle to keep up with demand.
           
      Deforestation will increase  carbon emissions, and increased livestock production will raise methane  levels and wider fertiliser use will further accelerate climate change.

         The lead researcher, Bojana Bajzelj from the University of  Cambridge, said: "There are basic laws of biophysics that we cannot  evade."

         "The average efficiency of livestock converting plant feed to  meat is less than 3%, and as we eat more meat, more aAmwle cultivation  is turned over to producing feedstock for animals that provide meat for  humans.

         "The losses at each stage are large, and as humans globally  eat more and more meat, conversion from plants to food becomes less and  less efficient, driving agricultural expansion and releasing more  greenhouse gases.

Agricultural practices are not necessarily at fault  here - but our choice of food is."

   Yield gaps          

The report says the situation can be radically improved if  farmers in developing countries are helped to achieve the best possible  yields from their land.

         Another big improvement will come if the world's population learns to stop wasting food.

         The researchers say if people could also be persuaded to eat  healthier diets, those three measures alone could halve agricultural  greenhouse gas levels from their 2009 level.

         The study is the latest to warn of the planetary risks of  eating intensively-produced meat and dairy produce. Scientists worried  about climate change are increasingly making common cause with health  experts concerned about the obesity pandemic.

         But many people are voting with their wallets and their  bellies - as burger bars expand, mushroom burgers are not yet  top-selling items.

[Ama T Opare]

People may be voting with their wallets but those votes are being bought by big food industry and mass media in cahoots with big pharma, and the rest of the fat cats. These mega corps are criminals. They don't care that their products kill the people and the planet. All that matters is profit. Unfortunately most people are too blind to see what's happening.