Vegetarian…from Granny Green Genes

SAVING THE PLANET ONE MEAL AT A TIME

 On Sunday, December 10th of last year, the environment editorof U.K.'s Independent Online posted a report from the UnitedNations Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO), asserting that"the world's top destroyer of the environment is not the car,or the plane, or even George Bush: it is the cow". According to the report, the world's rapidly growing herds ofcattle have been identified as the greatest threat to the climate,forestsand wildlife. And they have been blamed for a host of otherenvironmentalcrimes, from acid rain to the introduction ofalien species, from producing deserts to creating dead zones inthe oceans,from poisoning rivers and drinking water to destroyingcoral reefs. The 400-page report by the FAO, entitled "Livestock's LongShadow",also surveys the damage done by sheep, chickens, pigsand goats. But in almost every case, the world's 1.5 billioncattle are most to blame. Livestock are responsible for 18 percentof the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars,planes and all other forms of transport put together. Burning fuel to produce fertilizer to grow feed, to producemeat,and to transport it--and clearing vegetation for grazing--produces 9 percent of all emissions of carbon dioxide, the mostcommon greenhouse gas. And their wind and manure emit more thanone-third of emissions of another, methane, which warms the world20 times faster than carbon dioxide. Livestock also produces more than 100 other polluting gases,including more than two-thirds of the world's emissions of ammonia,one of the main causes of acid rain. Ranching, the report adds, is "the major driver of deforestation"worldwide, and overgrazing is turning a fifth of all pastures andranges into desert. Cows soak up vast amounts of water: it takes astaggering 990 litres of water to produce one litre of milk. Wastes from feedlots and fertilizers used to grow their feedovernourish water, causing weeds to choke out all other life. Andthe pesticides, antibiotics and hormones used to treat them get intodrinking water and endanger human health. The pollution washes down to the sea, killing coral reefs andcreating "dead zones" devoid of life. One is up to 21,000 sq. km.,in the Gulf of Mexico, where much of the waste from U.S. beefproduction is carried down the Mississippi. The report concludes that, unless drastic changes are made,the massive damage done by livestock will more than double by 2050,as demand for meat increases. That's the bad news. The good news is that reducing ourconsumption of food derived from animals happens one meal ata time and that it is well within the power of each of us tomake changes, however incremental, in our food choices! I'm a firm believer that one can stay low on the food chainand still enjoy life. As a mostly vegan vegetarian, I know I amlooking out for my health and the health of the animals I choosenot to eat. And now,as it turns out, I'm saving the planet as well!(And what about not wanting to eat the products of cloned orgenetically engineered animals? Another reason to go vegan!) So get a grip on global warming by resolving to lessen yourdependence on animals for food in 2007. Martha Devine