http://www.thismagazine.ca/issues/2007/09/heresthebeef.php

Here's the beef
Livestock is a huge source of GHGs-so where are the ads telling us to eat less meat?
BY Lynn Kavanagh
Photography by Shaun Lowe

With global warming now a household phrase, politicians and environmentalists are putting forward a cascade of strategies to deal with the crisis, but one message is conspicuously absent from the call to action: the recommendation to consume less meat.

Canada is among the world's top three meat-consuming nations, and meat production takes a hefty toll on the environment. Last November, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported on the environmental impact of meat production, noting that, "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems." On a global scale, livestock production is responsible for 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which is more than the transport sector.

There has been a deluge of recent initiatives undertaken to abate global warming, including the Canadian government and environmentalists advocating fluorescent light bulbs, and Ontario turning up the thermostat to a balmy 26 degrees Celsius in government buildings during the summer months. Climate change was even front and centre at the most recent G8 meeting in June. But most environmental organizations fail to discuss meat production's environmental impacts, and few make this a major part of their global warming campaigns.

So why, when Canadians are more interested than ever in living sustainably, are there no organized efforts to persuade them to cut back on meat?

Environmentalists challenge conventions to create social change, but with just four percent of the Canadian population being vegetarian, vegetarianism is still viewed by some people as a fringe movement, one that environmentalists might be reluctant to associate themselves with, particularly when the green movement has made great strides penetrating the mainstream.

It's also difficult to see the connection between eating meat and environmental problems. But consider this: GHG emissions resulting from the production of one kilogram of beef are equal to driving for three hours and leaving all the lights on at home for the same amount of time.

With global meat production and consumption on the rise, it is vital that the green movement embrace the vegetarian message. Perhaps if Canadians were knowledgeable about the true cost of eating meat, they'd reduce their consumption of animal products in favour of a more earth-friendly diet.