food!
Yes, you heard it right, the food we eat actually is
responsible for about one-quarter of the planet warming-greenhouse gases that
humans generate each year. That includes raising and harvesting all the plants,
animals, and animal products we eat –chicken, beef, fish, milk, lentils, kale,
corn, and more. Well if you’re eating this then you are the part of the system.
Here’s how it's affecting when forests are cleared to make
room for farms and livestock daily in some part of the world, I
guess you know the element carbon which you must have come across in your
chemistry textbooks, yes this carbon are released into the atmosphere, which heats
up the planet, when cows sheep and goats digest their food, they burn up
methane, another greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. Animal manures
and rice paddies are also big methane sources. Finally, fossil fuels used to
operate on farm machinery, make fertilizers and ship food across the globe, all
of which generate emissions.
A slew of high-level reports produced over the last few
months all argues that if the world is to make an impact on climate change, the
food system needs to be radically reshaped. The way we produce food and is
manipulated and moved around the world, and what we as citizens decide to put on
our plate matters. Food systems contribute to 21% to 37% of global greenhouse
gases and are significant contributors to deforestations, biodiversity loss, and
declining groundwater reserves.
"Surely we have a responsibility to
leave for future generations a planet that is healthy and habitable by all
species”
-Sir
David Attenborough
One bowl of rice can have six times the climate impact of
another. Beef from a bottle can result in more greenhouse gas emissions than
beer from The Biere Club. The world’s food and agricultural systems produce
more than a quarter of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, the study notes, and
nearly two-thirds of those emissions are linked to animal products. If
consumers switched to a plant-based diet-or even cut their consumptions or
animal products in half – the shift could have substantial environmental
benefits.
Research
has, for some time made it clear that a plant-based diet high in animal
products. In addition to greenhouse gas emissions from acidification and
eutrophication – the excess runoff from agricultural fertilizers that starves the plant
life of oxygen.
BEEF: The main cause in the food system to cause climate change
Beef requires 20 times more land and emits 20 times more GHG
emissions per gram of protein than common plant proteins.
Beef is now being compared to cars and airplanes and as with
so many public spheres lately. Animal food is nutritious and is important to livelihoods
and diet in developing nations but at the same time inefficient resource users.
Because of beef, the forest is being cut down to allow more pasture example, the
great Amazon fires.
How does
beef production causes greenhouse gases?
Cows and other ruminant animals like goat and sheep emit
methane, potent greenhouse gas as they digest grasses and plants. This process is called “enteric fermentation” and it’s the origin of cow burps. More
indirectly and also importantly rising beef production requires increasing
quantities of land, new land is often created by cutting down trees. A 2013 study by the U.N food and agricultural organization
(FAO) estimated the total annual emissions from animal agriculture were about
14.5% of all human emissions, of which beef contributed 41% that means
emissions from beef production are roughly on par with those of India.
Even after accounting for continued improvements in beef
production efficiency, pastureland could still be roughly 400 million hectares,
an area of land larger than the size of India, to meet growing demand. The
resulting deforestation could increase global emissions enough to put the
global goal of limiting temperature rise or 1.52 degrees Celsius out of reach
Let’s now focus on food waste.
Fight
climate change by preventing food waste –
Today, and estimated one-third of all the food produced goes
to waste. That’s equal to about 1.3 billion tons of fruits and vegetables,
meat, dairy, seafood, and grains that either never leave the farm, get lost or
spoiled during distributions, or are thrown away in hotels, grocery stores,
restaurants, schools, or home kitchens. It could be enough calories to feed
every undernourished person on the planet.
But wasted food isn't just a social or humanitarian
concern—it's an environmental one. When we waste food, we also waste all the
energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. And
if food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane—a greenhouse gas
even more potent than carbon dioxide. About 11% of all the greenhouse gas
emissions that come from the food system could be reduced if we stop wasting
food.
As the world’s population continues to grow, our challenge
should not be how to grow more food, but to feed more people while wasting less
of what we already produce. Thankfully, there are plenty of actions we can take
at the consumer level to make a significant difference. From delivering
leftovers to those in need of freezing food, shopping smarter, and composting
to keep inedible scraps out of landfills, we can all take small steps to curb
our emissions.
The world’s leading scientists are highlighting the increasing
impact on the environment of the food we eat and how it adds to climate change.
Food is responsible for around 30% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, and if
we don’t take action this number is predicted to grow.
Agriculture
is the biggest cause of rest loss, meaning that our current food system is
responsible for 60% biodiversity loss worldwide.
1.
Eat more
plants
2.
Eat a
variety of food
3.
Waste less
food
4.
Moderate
your meat
5.
Buy food
that meets a credible certified standards
6.
Eat fewer
foods high in fat, salt and sugar
Consuming less red meat and dairy will typically have the
biggest impact on most people in wealthy countries. That doesn’t mean
necessarily mean going vegan. You might just eat less the foods with the
biggest climate footprints, like beef, lamb, and cheese. Substitutes for these
are pork, chicken, eggs, and mollusks that have a smaller footprint. But plant-based
foods like beans, pulses, grains, and soya tend to be most climate-friendly
options of all
But for the world to make this shift, we need governments and
the food industry to make it easier. We need investment in public health
information and the implementation of policies that promote healthy eating that
is affordable, safe, convenient, and most of all, tasty.
What we eat matters. Not only for ourselves and the planet but for the youth who were out marching on the streets in the name of their
future and right to live on this planet.
courtesy: THE GUARDIAN
