On Mar 11, 8:24 am, "( _ /)" > wrote:
> Eat less meat
>
> Our micrositewww.eatlessmeat.orgis packed with further information
>
> http://tinyurl.com/ys5gv6
> Overview
> Global meat production and consumption are soaring. Until the 1990s,
> the vast majority of animal products were consumed in rich countries,
> yet the last decade has seen many in developing nations also adopt the
> "Western diet". Together with the growth in meat consumption,
> intensive factory farms are not just the norm in "the west", but are
> proliferating rapidly in countries like Brazil and China to meet the
> demand for meat.
>
> All indications are that this trend will continue apace for the
> foreseeable future, encouraged by governments and international
> agri-business.
>
> The scale of expansion in meat production and consumption is
> unsustainable. Rather than helping to tackle global hunger, the
> increase in meat consumption threatens global food security, our
> shared environment and our own health.
>
> The main problems can be summarised as follows;
>
> Human health: Alongside the increased consumption of animal fats are
> disturbing rates of obesity, heart disease and adult-onset diabetes.
> In order to reduce the risk from these diseases, all informed opinion
> now stresses the desirability of reduced consumption of animal
> products and increased intake of fresh fruit, vegetables and
> fibre-rich carbohydrates
>
> The welfare of farmed animals: The explosion in meat consumption is
> paralleled by the global expansion of industrial "factory farming" of
> animals, a system which by its very nature compromises basic welfare
> standards. In factory farms, the animals suffer from confinement,
> isolation or overcrowding and the frustration of their natural
> behaviour.
>
> Water scarcity: Lack of water is set to be the biggest threat to
> global stability in coming decades. Producing meat uses up vast
> amounts of water; each calorie of meat takes far more water to produce
> than a calorie of grain or carbohydrate; for example, it takes only
> 500 litres of water to produce a kilo of potatoes, but 100,000 litres
> to produce a kilo of beef.
>
> Environmental impact: The unsustainably large livestock population is
> having a devastating effect on our environment. A major contributor to
> global warming, livestock herds account for 10% of all greenhouse
> gases, including 25% of all methane emissions. In addition, the sheer
> volume of waste generated by the farm animal population, together with
> the excessive use of fertilisers to grow their feed, causes high
> levels of ammonia and nitrate pollution of land, water and air.
>
> Global food security: Much of the earth's arable land is now being
> used to grow feed crops for intensively farmed animals rather than for
> people.
> Placing animal products at the centre of food policy greatly
> diminishes the possibility of feeding the world's human population.
> Rather than using vast areas of land to grow crops for animal feed,
> more food can be obtained by using land to grow crops for direct human
> consumption.
>
> Brief history and future objectives
> CIWF launched its Eat Less Meat campaign in March 2004 at an event in
> London. Speakers included leading environmentalist Jonathon Porritt,
> author Colin Tudge and food policy expert Professor Tim Lang.
> CIWF has published a range of materials to support the campaign: a
> report "The Global Benefits of Eating Less Meat" by Mark Gold, with
> foreword by Jonathon Porritt and a video "Eat Less Meat - it's costing
> the Earth" narrated by Joanna Lumley.
>
> Several organisations are supporting our campaign:
> The Soil Associationhttp://www.soilassociation.org/
> The Food Commissionhttp://www.foodcomm.org.uk/
> The Gaia Foundationhttp://freespace.virgin.net/s.rabin/html/mainmenu.html
> The Biodynamic Agriculture Associationhttp://www.anth.org.uk/biodynamic/
> The Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology (India)http://www.vshiva.net/
> The Women's Environmental Network (WEN)http://www.wen.org.uk/
>
> The campaign aims a
> To persuade consumers to eat less meat and eat only organic or free
> range meat
> To persuade western governments to set targets for a reduction in meat
> consumption. We are aiming for a 15% reduction by 2020
>
> Campaign actions
> Set personal targets for eating less meat. How about meatless Mondays?
> When you buy meat, always buy organic or free range.
> When in restaurants, ask if the meat they serve is organic or free
> range. If not, try the vegetarian option!
> Visit the eatlessmeat.org microsite or order our report, video or
> leaflets.
> http://www.eatlessmeat.org/
>
> Talk about the idea of eating less meat to family, friends and
> colleagues or write to your local newspaper about the issue.
> Get involved with CIWF
>
> CIWF is the organisation that gets things done. To find out more on
> how you can actively help CIWF with petitions, demonstrations and
> community fundraising, visit the Get involved section of the website.

People do eat too much crappy meats..and other foods of course. Maybe
the quality outlets should be licenced and people could have a
tradable ration? This way places like the 'Hotshop' in Llanberis,
Gwynedd, North Wales, could carry on making the absolute best Shish
kebabs in the UK, whlist all that rubbish sold could be phased out,
and the rest of the time people could eat raw nuts and fruits and the
like. The land thus freed could be used for tree crops etc and also
native reafforestation of the empty wastes of the UK hill country. The
process could be speeded up by stopping all animal farming subsidy and
all other non organic subsidy. Hill farmers could take the Forestry
Commision shilling if they wanted government/public money....the FC
have gone very native tree orientated recently.