Rajendra Pachauri, a senior UN scientist, has suggested that people might want to eat less meat, if they are seriously concerned about global warming. This is something of a no-brainer - people eating less meat means less cows pumping methane into the atmosphere. It also means less pressure on CO2 absorbing rainforests from cattle ranchers. I suspect, though, that meat people would sooner cut their left hand off than eat less meat, so I don't know why Dr Pachauri is bothering.
BBC News report
Guardian report
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I dunno about that. Certainly in my own household we find these arguments pretty convincing,and are therefore aiming for one vegetarian meal a week. It's not a lot, but it's a start.
maybe I am wrong then. But what has always struck me in anecdotal research on the topic of meat eating is how fond of it meat people are, in a manner that is to me somewhat unfathomable.
Don't get me wrong - I love eating meat. But I must say that if I can help fight global warming by eating lentils (decently flavoured) once a week, that seems like a fair deal to me.
I would formally have classed myself as a dedicated carnivore but since moving in with Sarah my meat consumption has dropped dramatically and is limited only to some cold meats in a lunchtime sandwich and the odd meal in a restaurant. On the other hand my dairy consumption has increased and this only exacerbates the issue of farting cows. Still anecdotal evidence from friends is that many are cutting down on meat for both health and economic reasons but this may indeed be cases of swimming against the tide given the news in recent times of the burgeoning middle classes in India and China developing a taste for meat.
As an ovo-lacto vegetarian I suppose I should eat less cheese and milk to support tha warming. But life without cheese is surely not worth living.
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