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Food – for people!

1 October 2009: World Vegetarian Day and handover of the petition 'FOOD VS FEED’ to the UN and its agencies

Press Release

When in July 2008 the petition 'FOOD VS FEED' was launched, the number of hungry people was already at an all time high. Over a year later, the UN agencies have to admit that in spite of some initiatives and many alerts this unacceptable situation has not improved, and may well have deteriorated even further. More than a billion people are now starving and dying because of climate changes, failing harvests, decline of arable land, financial tsunamis, and the world food aid crashing to a 20-year low.

However, animal factory farming, which siphons off huge shares of available resources, has not only continued without the slightest glitch but is even increasing. So sufficient feed is obviously available. Food is not.

A series of high level FAO meetings, including the ‘World Summit on Food Security’, will take place in October. Hundreds of experts are expected to square the circle of how to provide enough food and accommodate the growing demand for feed. How can that work? After all, earth’s resources are finite so eventually ethical choices will have to be made, priorities be set!

Feeding the world by saving animals

The fact that today so many millions are threatened by hunger shows that life in our global village has run out of control and balance. Sadly, there is a real danger that things will deteriorate further when in 2050 an estimated 9.1 billion citizens may each year be confronted with the demand for 470 million tons of meat.

FAO’s envisaged ‘new technologies’ to increase ‘livestock yields’ address only the meat-side of the problem because not even the most ingenious techniques can change the fact that enormous amounts of resources are needed to produce beef: For just one kilo of beef 7-16 kg of grain or soya beans, up to 15,500 liters of water, and 323 m2 of grazing land are wasted. Why, with the help of engineering, attempt to breed even more animals? Why not instead research, and promote, a lifestyle much lower on the food chain, which is immensely better suited to alleviate the deprivation and inequalities of today and in future?

Why kill when even more can live without killing?

Surprisingly vegetarianism still has not made it on the international agenda in spite of all its obvious benefits. However, in times of unprecedented misery, international decision makers are failing those in distress if they continue to shy away from this worry-free, cost effective and critically important ally in the war against world hunger.

Such a compassionate and healthy way of life, which is also protecting the environment like no other, calls for objective examination and serious consideration. When already small steps of meat-reduction can make huge shares of harvests available for human consumption, the potential of wider vegetarianism can only be described as mind-boggling.

In the name of solidarity: Give vegetarianism a chance!

That’s what more than 22.000 individuals and about 1300 organisations encourage the United Nations and its Agencies to do.

The petition is now closed and the signatures are handed over to the respective Headquarters in New York (UN), Rome (FAO) and Geneva (WHO).


Signed:

European Vegetarian and Animal News Alliance (EVANA)

Schweizerische Vereinigung fuer Vegetarismus

contact: info@evana.org


Source: Petition Petition 'FOOD vs FEED' to the UN
Author: Renato Pichler

Link: Climate change cuts world food outlook-IFPRI
Link: Climate change to cause more child hunger: report
Link: Global food security plans too narrow-analyst
Link: NZ: Vegetarian challenges meat lovers to eat up
Link: What we eat effects everyone's health: World Vegetarian Day October 1st

Date: 2009-10-01