Why eating less meat could cut global warming

[gertvegan]

What you choose to have for dinner can have a huge impact on the planet.

Juliette Jowit. The Observer. Sunday November 11 2007.

Read more here.

[eve]

Thank you gertvegan for that link to the Observer article. Those of us who are vegans do know about the damage to the environment caused especially by intensively farmed animals. However, nobody in the environment area ever seems to mention it. Not even Al Gore in An Inconvenient Truth - but then he breeds cattle. As somebody else said (can't remember who), we make a decision every time we raise a knife and fork.

[Kevin2]

I consider all costs to be connected for a meat eating diet.

The final paragraph: "Eating less meat alone would not be enough for many people, warned Hampton: 'For a well-off professional with above average disposable income, no amount of vegetarian or vegan eating, recycling, organic local produce or packaging avoidance will make any shrinkage of our shadow. Flying time, petrol spend and energy bills will predominate.'"

The article writer should mention the flying time, petrol spend and energy bills required in the meateater's diet. There is no mention that rainforests are being clear-cut in order to grow crops to feed livestock in the US, UK etc. This process results in more greenhouse gasses produced in the act of the destruction of the forest itself, and also means that there are fewer remaining/no trees left to absorb future CO2; and of course there is then the transportation footprint to consider of getting the crops from, say, South America, to the United States.

It's hard to know who, or what, to believe, but I'm guessing the article writer has it backwards regarding the vegan diet/transport & energy bills ranking.

[ClawsyWP]

jeese whoever is in that article finds it incredibly hard to say vegan diet is better for the environment bah @ at the bit say some live stock farming is good for the environment, wot a load of ....
a good read thu, ty

[eve]

This article from the 'Jerusalem Post' was emailed to me by a vegan friend, and it makes for interesting reading.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...cle%2FShowFull

[Marrers]

'For a well-off professional with above average disposable income, no amount of vegetarian or vegan eating, recycling, organic local produce or packaging avoidance will make any shrinkage of our shadow. Flying time, petrol spend and energy bills will predominate.'"

It's about lifestyle not income. It assumes 'well-off professional' vegans spend as much on flights, bigger cars and massive homes as the average meat eating 'well-off professional' - I believe this is simply not the case.

[BlackCats]

It's about lifestyle not income. It assumes 'well-off professional' vegans spend as much on flights, bigger cars and massive homes as the average meat eating 'well-off professional' - I believe this is simply not the case.

Exactly, I agree.