Eat less meat to protect the environment warn experts

1^st September 2014

Joanna Byrne

Joanna Byrne

1 September 2014

Burger bars, steak houses and BBQ restaurants have been popping up all over the place in recent years, taking on a new glamorous image which is far away from the healthy food of the past. This new culinary trend mirrors the Western world’s growing appetite for meat. However, there is a much darker side to this swanky new drift for all things flesh, with experts warning that the increasing consumption of meat is not only attributing to health problems, but also to climate change and world hunger.

Researchers from Cambridge and Aberdeen universities have released a study stating that it is “essential” to curb our meat consumption in order to ensure future demand for food can be met and unsafe climate change avoided.

The study suggests that if the shift towards meat-heavy diets in the Western world and human population growth rate continues to rise, soon the agricultural yields will not meet the demand for the 9.6 billion world population.

Scientists predict that as we farm more meat, increased levels of deforestation, fertiliser use and livestock methane emissions could lead to an 80% rise in greenhouse gases.

Leading researcher Bojana Bajzelj underlined crucial facts about achieving global food security without expanding produce and grazing land. She said: “Agricultural practices are not necessarily at fault here-but our choice of food is. Food production is a main driver of biodiversity loss and a large contributor to climate change and pollution, so our food choices matter.”

Joanna Byrne