Meat, the hidden reason for growing food insecurity

EUROPEAN VEGETARIAN UNION - PRESS RELEASE - WORLD FOOD DAY

16 October 2007

This World Food Day was preceded by a series of FAO-warnings "Wheat prices hit record-high level", "28 countries face food shortages", "Climate change disaster is upon us", etc., and also the European Union cautioned that "2007 total cereal harvest will be ...1,6% below the average of the last five years", and that cereal intervention stocks "have shrunk from 14 million tonnes at the beginning of 2006/2007 to around 1 million tonnes now".

Environmental changes are given as a major cause for failing harvests, and the FAO even names the culprits, pointing to future disasters by informing that livestock's environmental impact "will worsen dramatically...".

So it's official: It's the beef!

What vegetarians have tried to get across for decades has finally become official wisdom: 'Livestock's Long Shadow' puts a dramatic pressure on the environment, contributes critically to climate change and global warming, leads to failing harvests and threatens the global food supply. But that's not all: Even in times of dwindling resources, enormous harvest shares continue to be requisitioned for farm animals.

The result is obvious: Food is getting scarce and expensive for everyone and, as always, the poor are the first to suffer and suffer the most.

Stop meat-business as usual

Since animal husbandry is one of the most prominent reasons for the world's greenhouse pollution which threatens the food supply of billions of people, more sustainable lifestyles have to be adopted urgently. There is absolutely no need for the citizens of some countries to continue eating roughly their own weight in meat every year! Reason and solidarity must bring about lighter ecological footprints of the individual, and vegetarianism is the prime choice in this quest.

On the occasion of World Food Day 2007, the European Vegetarian Union appeals to all people of good will, and especially to national and international decision makers, to accept and promote the vegetarian alternative. The present terrifying crossroad shows clearly that for us and all future generations, new ethical alternatives have to replace old destructive habits – today.

Renato Pichler
President
European Vegetarian Union

Source: European Vegetarian Union
Author: Herma Caelen

Link: CIWF: Climate change is the biggest environmental threat currently facing our planet. Globally, animal agriculture is one of the main contributors to climate change
Link: CIWF: Impact of livestock farming
Link: contact e-mail
Link: FAO insists on food as a human right
Link: Livestock are a leading source of greenhouse gases. Why isn't anyone raising a stink?


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