Steaks are high
We can slow climate change by feeding our livestock on grass, not grain – not by eating less meat, says Graham Harvey.
The call – from a leading United Nations expert on climate change – for us all to eat less meat for the sake of the planet sounds plausible enough, especially if you're inclined toward the vegetarian lifestyle.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the UN panel on climate change is himself a vegetarian. He argues that by cutting back our meat consumption – perhaps by introducing one meat-free day a week – we could have a major impact on climate change at little inconvenience to ourselves.
At the core of his argument is the idea that meat production generates huge amounts of greenhouse gases. Cattle, for example, produce damaging methane while consuming cereal grains grown with heavy inputs of fossil fuels. Therefore cutting back on our beef consumption ought to be good for the planet.
However, it's a flawed argument. . . Read the article in full [guardian.co.uk]
Graham Harvey, the Guardian, 08/09/2010