Food, farming, the environment and global warming

[stripee]

Why eating less meat could cut global warming | Environment | The Observer
I thought as there is a lot of off thread discussion about food, farming and what we eat that a new thread devoted to the subject would be interesting Would you change your diet or modify it because of environmental concerns?

[stripee]

My current dilemma is bananas, even organic ones have to come from a long way off, to eat locally at this time of year there is only apples and more apples, and pears. Satsumas and other fruit too, can't be grown in the UK. Organic vegetables are good but again its the end of the tomato season unless they are flown in. We are used to having all the fruits and vegetables all the year round, is it possible to go back to seasonal eating again, or is just too dull! Worldwide more people are changing their diets to a western style one ie more meat, which means more animal feed.

[Kerry]

Yes, definitely. I try to buy all british grown organic which isn't always easy. I have found that the more that I eat in line with this, the less that I have actually enjoyed or wanted the exotics such as bananas on the rare occasions that I have had them; now I don't have any craving for them.

Sadly, when I have discussed peoples diets with them and how they are affecting the environment most people are not prepared to make any change whatsoever and they certainly would not consider cutting back their meat and dairy consumption. When you look at the environmental damage from meat and dairy production people could make a MASSIVE difference to the environment and global warming just by halving their consumption. You see so many people saying that all meat and dairy should go over to organic production but this is totally unrealistic if the present levels of meat and dairy are consumed, as there just isn't the land mass available to do it. Most people would never consider going vegetarian or vegan but I don't feel that cutting back is an unrealistic option.

Also look at how many people are overweight, even drastically overweight. They are having a far worse impact on the environment because they are taking for more from the environment than their body needs. How many people would lose weight for the environment or would even think of it in those terms?

[Paul mabbott]

Bananas are not flown in and citrus fruit from the Mediterranean comes by train or boat so is quite energy efficient. The thing to do with your oranges is check that they are from the Mediterranean.

Bananas are more complex - there are not many organically grown ones and it's perhaps more important to check that they are fair-traded. Go for fair-trade ones and you'll be contributing to good wages for the workers rather than big profits for the 'multinational' (USAmerican) companies who grow monocultures and pay very little to the workers or governments.

Originally Posted by stripee

My current dilemma is bananas, even organic ones have to come from a long way off, to eat locally at this time of year there is only apples and more apples, and pears. Satsumas and other fruit too, can't be grown in the UK. Organic vegetables are good but again its the end of the tomato season unless they are flown in. We are used to having all the fruits and vegetables all the year round, is it possible to go back to seasonal eating again, or is just too dull! Worldwide more people are changing their diets to a western style one ie more meat, which means more animal feed.

[Gill Catton]

This is difficult, I suppose I am making changes but its probably not enough. I only eat meat at weekends and this is always sourced as ethically as possible and I stretch it as far as possible - roast then curry or pie then soup that sort of thing - but I love milk and drink it every day have done since I was a kid - I often buy milk from a farm shop where I used to live and the milk comes exclusively from the village herd so at least I can see the animals and how they live (though I'm not happy about the being indoors all winter thing and the calfs removed entirely ) I'd rather buy from someone with a house cow who lets the calf suckle during the day at least too - haven't found anyone in my area yet though.....

I'm incredibly lucky as there's an organic veg shop at the complex where I work where they grow the veg on site so that's a massive bonus no food miles at all there!
I do buy the odd orange and banana and coconut or mango but not masses and I feel that if I boycot them it will may hurt the growers and I don't want to do that - they need to make a living too.

I definately prefer the buy from the best people method over the boycott method of trying to make things better, as boycotting seems less supportive and encouraging to me.

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

This is difficult, I suppose I am making changes but its probably not enough. I only eat meat at weekends and this is always sourced as ethically as possible and I stretch it as far as possible - roast then curry or pie then soup that sort of thing - but I love milk and drink it every day have done since I was a kid - I often buy milk from a farm shop where I used to live and the milk comes exclusively from the village herd so at least I can see the animals and how they live (though I'm not happy about the being indoors all winter thing and the calfs removed entirely ) I'd rather buy from someone with a house cow who lets the calf suckle during the day at least too - haven't found anyone in my area yet though......

I don't think a lot of people realise what goes on in the large scale dairy industry.. pretty ruthless business all round right up to the supermarkets.
I think a lot of organic producers allow the calf to stay with the mother longer. You're right to say it's nice to know where it's coming from.
Interesting to compare western culture with eastern, especially Japan where they consume virtually no dairy produce.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I don't think a lot of people realise what goes on in the large scale dairy industry.. pretty ruthless business all round right up to the supermarkets.
I think a lot of organic producers allow the calf to stay with the mother longer. You're right to say it's nice to know where it's coming from.
Interesting to compare western culture with eastern, especially Japan where they consume virtually no dairy produce.

I quite like how they do things in areas of eastern Europe where within a village everyone owns a cow and they pay a herdsman to look after them on the hillsides and pastures (presumably potentially ot milk or butcher them too) at least then everyone has a sense of ownership and crucially responsibility towards that individual animal.
Here we seem to place all of that responsibility on the farmer's shoulders who is just trying to make ends meet most of the time! Often with his/her arm twisted behind his/her back by the supermarkets.....

And the stupid red tape! I wish I could just walk onto a farm and buy a jug full of milk direct from the producer - I don't mind if its not pasturized having drunk plenty of unpasturized in the past I know there is a risk as there is with so many of things in life - why can't I make that choice for myself?

I wish all animals not just chickens could be slaughtered on the farms they were raised on it must be terrifying for the animals to be moved- I bet most of the farmers wish that too if only to remove transport costs....grrr so much wrong - maybe I should go live in the eastern areas of Europe before they get drawn up into our rather twisted way of things thinking its better.....

[Kerry]

Originally Posted by Gill Catton

And the stupid red tape! I wish I could just walk onto a farm and buy a jug full of milk direct from the producer - I don't mind if its not pasturized having drunk plenty of unpasturized in the past I know there is a risk as there is with so many of things in life - why can't I make that choice for myself?

.....

Actually you can still do that and Farming Today on Radio 4 was discussing it on Friday or Saturday if I remember correctly. Not all farms do it obviously but some are and the only way they can sell unpasturised is if it is directly from the farm. You might be interested in going to the BBC website and using the listen again facility to hear the program on it.

[smartie]

I find the dilemma between buying organic and buying local quite a difficult one. Where I can I do both, but at present, for instance, it's really difficult to buy local organic apples. So do I buy organic to try to do my bit to encourage more organic production, or do I buy local to cut down on air miles? Once my own apple trees are more productive I may be able to avoid the dilemma altogether, but that is a few years off

It isn't that difficult to source good organic meat from ethical producers over the internet if you are in a position to pay the premium for it. What little meat I do eat generally comes direct from the farm. But unfortunately not everyone is either able or willing to pay extra for ethical production.

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by Kerry

Actually you can still do that and Farming Today on Radio 4 was discussing it on Friday or Saturday if I remember correctly. Not all farms do it obviously but some are and the only way they can sell unpasturised is if it is directly from the farm. You might be interested in going to the BBC website and using the listen again facility to hear the program on it.

Oh that's interesting - I'll give it a go, there's a Jersey herd near me I'd love to use their milk sod my arteries!!