Have you ever even thought about climate change being associated with our daily food consumption ? Isn’t it absurd? ( It was for me at first)
Actually to your suprise, our diets ARE ASSOCIATED with CLIMATE CHANGE
Well folks, we are living in the 21st century and scientists and researchers of this generation are continuously working towards gaining more and more knowledge about climate change or global warming like how it started, all its statistics, how do we avoid its catastrophic effects and how do we prevent it in the first place. And while these people do their work, every year some shocking facts are revealed all the time associated with this climate change. One of them was about the topic I am discussing in this post. And we, as citizens of this earth, must act before time runs out !!
How is diet related with climate change?
The reason why climate change is associated with diet is because of the huge carbon-footprint left by the whole global food system.This global food system contributes about 33% of the total greenhouse gases emitted by humans.This perecntage actually represents millions of tons of carbon. And to be precise, more than half of these emissions come from livestock production. I think we all know that the climate is not really good friends with carbon and as a result, we see increment in global temperatures. And I don’t think I need to explain the effects of increment in global temperatures.
But let me tell you in short, climate change will lead to rise in sea levels which will cause major floods, some species of animals and plants will go extinct and that will directly hit the ecosystems of their respective habitats and the damage done will also be harmful for humans in some or the other way.
Now let’s see that which specific foods cause the largest carbon-footprint. Here are the top 10 –
- Lamb
- Beef
- Cheese
- Pork
- Turkey
- Chicken
- Tuna
- Eggs
- Potatoes
- Rice
As we can observe, most of the things mentioned here are animal-based. Only the bottom two food items are plant-based. I think this justifies the big role of livestock production in the carbon-footprint left by the global food system.
The reason why animal-based food items have such high carbon-footprint is because the animals which are fed for later consumption such as goat, chicken, cows and pigs produce millions of tons of methane, carbon-dioxide etc. through a process known as ‘entric fermentation‘. It’s a digestive process in which these animals release greenhouse gases through burping.
Also while obatining edible meat from animals, we have to follow many stages. Like we have to properly feed the animals, sterilize their meat ,then we have to freeze it for storage and its transportation etc. And all these things lead to the big carbon-footprint of livestock production.
Now let’s discuss what should be our approach towards this problem !
What should we do ?
- BUY LOCAL – It’s so simple, if we will buy products made from our country or town, then it won’t have a big carbon-footprint as compared to the carbon-footprint caused by an international merchandise.
- REDUCE FOOD WASTE – When our food starts rotting on waste lands, it starts releasing several greenhouse gases like methane as it starts decomposing. And the amount of methane released due to this is more than the carbon-dioxide released by millions of cars. Also the energy and other resources wasted on growing or cooking this food goes to waste.
- REDUCE YOUR MEAT CONSUMPTION – I know that this point is hard to implement on a large scale as more than the population of humans are Non-Vegetarians. But think practically, can’t we as the citizens of this earth at least REDUCE our meat consumption for the sake of this earth ?! I hope you get my point.
- TRY PLANT BASED ALTERNATIVES – If we start consuming plant-based alternatives of our foods, then we can significantly reduce our carbon footprint. Like eating plant-based protein rather than meat or fish as our protein source, drinking soy or almond milk rather than normal dairy milk etc.
- EAT FIBROUS FOOD ITEMS – If we start eating items rich in fiber , then we would not feel hungry for long hours. And as a result we would consume less food in those “hours”. And if we consume less food, then we will also tend to buy those items with heavy carbon footprint lesser. Hence, reducing our carbon-footprint.
CONCLUSION
I hope you will implement the points mentioned above in your daily lives and will help mankind counter climate change ! And hey, pls don’t think that I am telling you to do these steps instantly like reducing meat consumption etc. But you must start it step-by-step and slowly embrace these things completely becuase
Better late than never!
Geoffrey Chaucer
Hope you liked the post !!!!!!
Pls visit the post below to know more about importance of eating COMPLEX CARBS which have are rich in fibres
