the belle lumiere

The UK’s Food Climate Research Network suggests that food production from farm to fork is responsible for between 20-30 percent of global green house gas emissions.

Livestock production is responsible for around half of these emissions. The more meat we produce and eat the bigger that carbon footprint will get. A sustainable future demands that we cut down – and yet between 1961 and 2007 the world population increased by a factor of 2.2, but meat consumption quadrupled, and poultry consumption increased 10-fold.

As a result the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has concluded that the livestock sector is ‘one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global’.

To build a better world in the future we all need to make changes in our lifestyles now. Not all the changes we have to make are easy; and not all the easy changes we can make are meaningful. But making just one day a week a meat-free day, really is the little thing that can make a big difference. For instance, the group Compassion in World Farming estimates that if the average UK household halved its consumption of meat this would cut more emissions than if car use was cut in half. By making a simple change in the way you eat, you are taking part in a world changing campaign where what’s good for you is also good for the planet.

If you are interested in joining us and taking the challenge, I would suggest checking out the Meat Free Monday website for more information. Any vegetarians, or those with amazing veggie dishes, feel free to send them my way!