In January 2008, Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the United Nations
International Panel on Climate Change, made headlines when he asked the
world to cut back on meat consumption, pointing to UN-based research
that shows the production of livestock is responsible for more
greenhouse gas emissions than all forms of transportation combined. The
plea was one of the first times the IPCC had publicly linked climate
change with livestock production.
Richard Rogers, who founded the Halifax Association of Vegetarians
in 2006, says that in today’s economic climate, vegetarianism makes
financial sense, too. “Most of the world’s population are vegetarians
because they can’t afford meat,” says Rogers. “Their diets are mostly
composed of beans, rice and grains.” And with an ever-increasing global
population estimated to approach 10 billion by the end of the century,
Rogers argues that vegetarianism is the only way our skyrocketing human
population can be supported.
Most people choose vegetarianism for health reasons first, says
Rogers. Others may choose to forego meat out of compassion for animals.
Whatever their motivation, “it was certainly more difficult to be a
vegetarian 100 years ago,” adds Rogers. Today’s vegetarians can choose
a range of meat analog products made of soy or wheat that are very
meat-like in taste and available in most grocery stores.
This year, HAV will start offering basic vegetarian cooking classes.
“Cooking is really very important if you’re going to be a vegetarian
and you want a healthy diet,” says Rogers. The association also hosts
potlucks and dinners with guest speakers, but the most popular benefit
is its discount program, which entitles HAV members to discounts at a
dozen businesses across the city as well as at Halifax’s two vegetarian
restaurants, Heartwood and Satisfaction Feast.
This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2009.
Most of the world’s population is vegetarian- riiiight. The world’s most populated countries, China, India, the US, Indonesia, Brazil, etc. only ONE of those has a large vegetarian population(India) at about 30%. Most people identifying themselves as vegetarian still consumed seafood, or in some cases, red meat on occasion. To be generous, probably about 15% of the world can be considered veg*an. And those aforementioned people who can’t buy meat? Will eat it when they can get it. Look at the explosion in beef consumption of China.
Try some unbiased sources there Richard.
I’m not sure if I understand the “North American” way of vegetarianism. Those above mentioned countries consume mainly grains and veggies because of the lack of meat, and they diet in a way that doesn’t disguise the taste of vegetables to try and make it taste like meat. The very concept of “meat-tasting soy patties” seems ridiculous. If you are a true vegetarian, why do you need to satisfy the cravings of the meat-flavour by consuming chemical- and artificial flavour-ladden meat substitutes?
Why the negativity towards an article encouraging something positive?
SD: While I basically agree with your viewpoint on actual stats, does the fact that some people identifying as vegetarians eat meat on occasion mean that eating a *mostly* vegetarian diet isn’t still a good thing, and something to be encouraged? Many populations in other parts of the world, while still including meat in their diets, eat far less than their N. American counterparts. I think the point of the article is not to tell us that we should all go vegetarian, but rather that a diet containing LESS meat could be healthier, both for our bodies and for the environment.
hmm: I think that perhaps meat-substitutes exist more prevalently in N. America because most of us have grown up with meals that were centered around meat, so making the change to a vegetarian diet can be a difficult adjustment for some, even if they’re committed to the idea of vegetarianism. Most meat-substitutes I’ve tried don’t contain chemicals or artificial flavours, and make it easier for anyone, regardless of dietary orientation, to enjoy some of their favorite ‘comfort foods’ while reducing the potential health and environmental implications.
Happy Earth Day, everyone! 🙂
Most vegetarians are vegetarians because they get a bloated sense of self-satisfaction from it. Vegetarianism isn’t an answer to the world’s food problem: sustainable and efficient growing practices are the key. Not to mention too, in developing countries, what little meat they eat is the protein they get. It would seem Mr. Rogers thinks that a little Somali boy has extra cash laying around to go get protein supplements. Being a vegetarian isn’t more environmentally friendly either, unless you can always confirm that your head of romaine lettuce hasn’t traveled 5000 KM to get here. Not to mention too, most of the world’s soy production is (as with most things nowadays) centralized in China (the world’s worst polluter), then sent to Canada, the US, the EU, etc. to be processed. Oh, and one final note: Carsten, it’s analogue (which is the noun form) not analog. Analogous means to be similar, and analog is something that has continuously variable physical quantities.
Dr. Fever, I agree with your statement that “vegetarianism isn’t an answer to the world’s food problem: sustainable and efficient growing practices are”. But wouldn’t a lessening dependency on factory livestock farms and meat processing plants be part of “sustainable and efficient growing practices”? I have no objection to people eating meat if it were to come from local, ethical sources, but the fact is that at the disproportionate rate we consume meat, providing enough meat to feed the population requires the current system of detrimental mass-production. If we could only consider meat as a small part of our diets, rather than the main event, it would have an impact on the food industry, and therefore the environment as well.
I have to raise issue with your statement that “what little meat they eat is the protein they get”. This is simply not true, as even the most casual research will reveal, that a diet of beans and grains provides more than adequate protein, and could be potentially healthier. Protein from plant sources doesn’t include excess calories from fat and is less likely to contain toxic residues.
While I realize that being a vegetarian doesn’t automatically make anyone more environmentally friendly, I think that it’s beneficial for all of us to rethink our traditional means of growing and consuming food, and that an increasing awareness of what we eat, where it comes from, and how it affects us and our world is something worth promoting.
Me0w: Not when it uses false info. If it had played up “hey, eating less meat is good and this is why” instead of “hey, most of the people in the world are vegetarian and eating meat is killing the climate”, I wouldn’t be so bothered. It’s a poor article. It also offers no suggestions on meat available outside of nasty industrial agriculture, like local organic farms, etc. For example, I get my meat and poultry from Little Dorset at the Farmer’s Market as much as possible. Musquodoboit, no drugs, and they grow all their own feed.
People in other parts of the world that are being referenced are also much more likely to be tending their own food in some way, not buying their vegetables from the local supermarket where they have a carbon footprint a mile high.
I don’t think it is a “bloated sense of self-satisfaction” that is the main drive towards vegetarianism. When polled, most vegetarians choose to avoid meat for health reasons. I wish I could find that stat. but I can no longer seem to locate it. There always seem to be a couple meat eaters who seem very threatened by any talk of vegetarianism for some reason (see 2 of the above posts). If you don’t want to ba a vegetarian, no one is forcing you. Everyone has different opinions and should be allowed to discuss those opinions. Vegetarianism can take some pressure off of the environment and seeing where we are right now, anything that helps should be considered. Nice article Ms. Beevis.
I don’t think it is a “bloated sense of self-satisfaction” that is the main drive towards vegetarianism. When polled, most vegetarians choose to avoid meat for health reasons. I wish I could find that stat. but I can no longer seem to locate it. There always seem to be a couple meat eaters who seem very threatened by any talk of vegetarianism for some reason (see 2 of the above posts). If you don’t want to ba a vegetarian, no one is forcing you. Everyone has different opinions and should be allowed to discuss those opinions. Vegetarianism can take some pressure off of the environment and seeing where we are right now, anything that helps should be considered. Nice article Ms. Beevis.
I have no problem with veg*ans, methinks, if you were referring to me in any way. I have problems with shitty fact checking and unfounded claims.