Something for the weekend...

After a lot of talk, I'm finally going to do it. Starting officially on 10/10/10, after 26 years living the life of an omnivore, I have decided to embrace the challenge and become a vegetarian... Well, almost. A weekday vegetarian to be exact, meaning (in case it's not obvious) that from Monday to Friday I will not eat ANY meat. At the weekends, however, I'm free to eat any cute little animal I choose, except for beef.


Nope, I'm not becoming a Hindu. Nor am I taking this vow for ethical reasons. In fact, I think it's perfectly fine to kill an animal, so long as it's not tortured (think Chinese finger traps, hot pokers and toe clamps) and none of it goes to waste. I'm doing this because I want to see if I can. I'm ruling out beef completely, because I believe that the beef industry is completely unsustainable. I'm reducing my consumption of the rest because I believe that pork, lamb, chicken, fish and every other delicious animal need to be viewed as luxuries rather than staples.


This all links in with sustainability. Our capacity to endure. Some of the biggest issues we face on our planet are: land use efficiency, availability of water, energy availability, and waste management. Each of these four problems are greatly worsened by our desire for meat. A 2006 report by the Livestock, Environment And Development Initiative stated that the livestock industry is one of the top contributors to worldwide environmental degradation.


Large areas of land are required not only for grazing and winter shelters for the animals, but it is also used to grow their feed. The FAO have reported that livestock production is, "one of the main drivers of the destruction of tropical rain forests in Latin America." 


In terms of water use, it takes approximately 17,000 cubic metres of water to produce a ton of beef, but only 1,500 cubic metres to produce a ton of wheat. In comparison, pork takes about 5,500 cubic metres and poultry is less again at approximately 4,000 cubic metres. This is the main reason I have completely excluded beef from my diet. It's production is simply not sustainable.


But it doesn't stop there. Amazingly, approximately 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture (only about 15% comes from transport) and a larger proportion of these emissions are in the form of methane (23 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide) and nitrous oxides (310 times more potent.) This doesn't exactly help the problem of global warming.


So, by saying no to even just beef once or twice a week, we can help reduce deforestation in Latin America, save water and lend a hand to the global warming issue. It may not save the world, but it certainly wont do any harm...