András Kun: Even if connection between meat consumption and climate change is a clear fact according to scientific researches, it does not get appropriate publicity and attention. Meat production is one of the major reasons of climate change. Animal breeding farms and factories produce several million tons of CO2 and methane per year. These are the two major greenhouse gases (for example they give more than 90% of the US greenhouse gas emission). According to UNEP research 21 % of human kind’s CO2 emission is produced by animal breeding for human consumption (Physics World, July, 2005). Another fact is that, animal husbandry – which serves meat consumers – emits more greenhouse gas than the whole transport sector together.
According to researches, from 1.5 hectares arable land – which is enough to supply the food requirement of only one meat consumer – 6 lacto-vegetarians could be fed. All over the world jungles are continuously deforested because stock farming needs more and more pastures and croplands. For example, thanks to meat production and farming huge rain forests became deserted regions in South-America. Rain forests of Central-America decreased with more than three-quarters within 25 years. As scientists calculated each person who shift to vegetarian diet saves 0.5 hectare of forest per year. Considering threat of drink water crisis as well another important fact is that, the meat consumers indirectly use twelve times more water as vegetarians because the water requirement of forage production.
Therefore it is obvious: Through meat consumption, millions of people connected directly to that meat production sector which is a major reason for global warming. Gidon Eschel and Pamela Martin, geophysicist of Chicago University, got to the following conclusion. To shift to vegetarian diet is a more effective personal act against global warming than shifting a big petrol eater car to an economical hybrid car. Global warming is truly an “inconvenient true” as Al Gore presented convincingly, but time has also came to face the fact that extreme meat consumption is one of the most serious reason of world crisis.
Krishna-valley (Hungary) is a pioneer even on this field, as its habitants’ diet is strictly meat free, which makes its ecological foot print significantly smaller. Concerning environment conservation meat free lifestyle is emphasised in the Eco-valley Program.
In this program a recently started research by two doctors follow up growth and state of health of children in Krishna-valley. We will use the outcome of this research to convince others: properly compounded diet provides full value nourishment even during pregnancy, nursing and infancy.
More about Eco-valley Program: www.ecovalley.hu
András Kun