What did you learn about dietary choices from using the footprint calculator? Now imagine that you could translate what you learned into an effective societal policy on food- what would it be? And how would this policy effect the need to alleviate world hunger?
925 million people on earth do not have enough to eat according to the FAO [Food and Agricultural Organization]. That's almost 1 in 7 inhabitants of our planet!
Food & Hunger >
Meatless, Less Mess
A few months ago I decided to become a vegetarian after reading about the carbon footprint and amount of water required to bring meat to the table. According to one study to create one kilogram of beef 15,416 liters of water is required compared to 322 liters of water for one kilogram of the average vegetable. That is several days worth of drinking water for person. The transportation of the cattle to different farms also brings up the carbon footprint. Once I entered that I was vegetarian in the carbon footprint calculator it lowered my carbon footprint tremendously. To create a healthier and more sustainable planet people should lower their consumption of red meat to less than a pound a week or become vegetarian because all meat products require between 4,325-15,416 liters of water per kilogram alone. If everyone in the world at less or eliminated meat from their diet maybe there would be more water left to drink and the demand for meat would lower so people all over could afford to buy small amounts of meat for their family's. Also, more farmers might focus on vegetarian crops, which take much less space to grow than meat. Then might be more food to go to everyone.
Maeve, I am also a vegetarian! I have considered the effects that meat production has on global warming but have yet to think about the amount of water needed. Using that much water to sustain animals could be avoided by more people adopting a meatless diet. I believe that many people are not aware of the benefits of being a vegetarian are, so it seems like an unappealing option. Giving up meat is a small price to pay for a more sustainable earth. If the overall advantages of vegetarianism were more widespread then, I think more people would switch over. Some ways we could help increase the number of vegetarians is promote it more on social media and make it a more mainstream lifestyle. Currently studies have shown that there is an increase in the amount of vegans and vegetarians within the United States, which I hope continues in an upward trend as time goes on.