Can Vegetarian Meals save the world?

[killer-curry]

We heard a lot of these slogan " Eat More Vegetables, Avoid Meat " , but does this action can save the world from global warming and most importantly food crisis?

 

[gimmepie]

Simple logic says no if you ask me. Aside from the fact it would have exactly zero impact on all the other industries that are pumping toxic chemicals into the atmosphere/depleting important natural resources, less people eating meat means more living things on the Earth producing methane which is a much more potent greenhouse gas than the infamous carbon dioxide and monoxide.

If anything it'll make our situation worse.

 

[Midnight shadow]

The food crisis is going to happen regardless of whether we eat meat or not. The simple fact is that the human race has grown too large for the earth to sustain us. As for global warming, I would disagree with gimmepie on this. If humans didn't eat meat there would be no need for mass production of cattle, pigs and chickens, all of which contribute largely to global warming. Then on the flip side if we were all vegitarian we would need to plant a lot more trees and crops, which would lower CO2 levels and increase the world's oxygen supply.

 

[zakisrage]

This idea is completely ridiculous. The agricultural industry isn't exactly environmentally-friendly, considering all the pesticides and chemicals they use on plants. Personally, I think this sounds like propaganda from animal rights wackos like PETA.

 

[Esper]

Raising animals for meat consumption requires more land, water, and energy than raising produce/grains/etc. Every step up the food chain results in a net loss in how much total food is being produced. If land that's used to grow feed for cattle was used to grow produce directly for human consumption you'd get a lot more food than you would from the meat of the animals. This is a fact. Whether the human population could be adequately sustained on a purely vegetarian diet is less of a sure thing, but the fact that people do live vegetarian/vegan lives and don't die of it suggests that it is possible. Of course certain climates or terrains might be better suited to ranching and animal raising than food crops, but overall there is a lot of room that could be made for direct-to-human food production that's currently being used to feed animals.

 

[Elysieum]

I heard somewhere that insects may become the food source to save, actually. Insects are in abundance, high in protein and I imagine easy to farm.

Of course, we will have to relinquish our disgust of it first. Although, I have seen some footage of street vendors in Vietnam who sell cooked insects to passersby. The man had caramelised grasshoppers on a stick, looked rather delicious actually.

 

[Midnight shadow]

I heard somewhere that insects may become the food source to save, actually. Insects are in abundance, high in protein and I imagine easy to farm.

Of course, we will have to relinquish our disgust of it first. Although, I have seen some footage of street vendors in Vietnam who sell cooked insects to passersby. The man had caramelised grasshoppers on a stick, looked rather delicious actually.

You are right there, and in this, Asia is ahead of the curb. Cambodians will eat pretty much anything they can find in the wild. Some of their delicacies include ant chutney and roasted tarantula, among other things. Vietnam is similar although not quite as extreme yet. As for the "eww" factor of eating bugs, people eat the insects of the sea (shrimp, crabs, shellfish,etc) no problem. The land insects are no different.

 

[Mana1]

No doubt that if everyone suddenly became a vegetarian and all meat-producing farms were converted into crop farmland then we would be in a better position for global food production, and it probably would help to alleviate some of our emissions problems.

Buuuuuut. We don't need to. All we need to do is have a more proportional diet. Eat less of these things without cutting them out completely and forcing people into vegetarianism. I bet most people eat far too much meat (particularly red meats) as it is.

 

[Esper]

As for the "eww" factor of eating bugs, people eat the insects of the sea (shrimp, crabs, shellfish,etc) no problem. The land insects are no different.

While I agree with you (which is why I've never eaten any kind of ocean bottom-feeder) I don't think that's going to convince many people. Once we've moved out of childhood it's hard to change your tastes in food, especially if you grow up with mostly store-bought, processed foods where (meat especially) doesn't really look like it came from something naturally occurring in the wild. That makes the thought of eating something that actually looks like it was once alive a lot harder to swallow. Ba dum tish

 

[Her]

The insect thing is no joke - I remember reading a statistic about a year ago that insects may become the significant portion of our diet if population growth & dietary trends stay the same or are not altered much over the next 30-40 years. It may have even said the insects would make up 50% of our diet, though I'm not sure if I'm confusing that with the date of 2050 that was attached to this premise.

Vegetarianism/veganism saves your own conscience (or your figure) if you are so inclined, but as others have said, its impact is futile unless undertaken on as massive scale. Same as conserving the use of energy in lightbulbs or growing your own garden and whatever. Cute, but not really much more than a conscience bandaid unless done by a significantly larger portion of people than right now. It certainly has the potential to limit the effects of mankind, or potentially reverse our direction from what some see as unmitigated disaster, but potential it will stay for the forseeable future. I can't exactly see the dairy/meat/fast-food/etc industries putting up with any cultural shift towards vegetarianism lightly, or even a drop in overall meat consumption. They certainly don't take it lightly as it is.

Fonterra in New Zealand (I believe NZ's largest company) pretty much props up the NZ economy with its contribution to the dairy industry, which is easily the largest export industry for the country bar none. Google says it accounts for 29% of our export profits. While a mass shift towards veganism is not likely to happen at all, let alone within my lifetime, there's absolutely no way the government here wouldn't freak out if there was a large aversion to a product that essentially keeps the country afloat. This is including the obvious of if the dairy industry is threatened, the meat industry is going up in flames. But this is all a hypothetical, of course. It's just me talking about how a large shift towards vegetarian/veganism would not be abided by most governments given how crucial the various aforementioned industries are towards the economy.
However, I have a feeling that in order for a population-wide dietary shift towards reducing meat consumption and promoting veggie/more balanced diets to happen, there'd probably have to be a cultural shift towards socialism as well. Seems like the two would have to be linked for a more thorough transition.

This is of course not mentioning all the other industries that would be affected by a larger and more effective rise in concern for animal welfare. As for saving the world, well, depends on what you define as 'saving'. Who knows, really. As Mana said, I think the most immediate solution relies on decreasing our portions, as well as having a more varied diet. It might seem weak in regards to 'saving the planet', but it's the first step towards any future change. Stepping stones and all that. Insects may well be the future after all.

 

[killer-curry]

But I would think that, reducing food wastage is also a important key to save the food crisis. Well-fed people just wasted too much food and vegetables that are imperfect visually also dumped as well, which contribute a lot to food wastage.

 

[Her]

But I would think that, reducing food wastage is also a important key to save the food crisis. Well-fed people just wasted too much food and vegetables that are imperfect visually also dumped as well, which contribute a lot to food wastage.

That last part is very important indeed, the emphasis on visually appealing foods. The problem isn't really the consumer's fault - we're but the last link in the chain. But it's incredible just how much food is wasted because it doesn't look perfect and therefore sellable.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jan/10/half-world-food-waste

It really is quite gross.

 

[Midnight shadow]

But I would think that, reducing food wastage is also a important key to save the food crisis. Well-fed people just wasted too much food and vegetables that are imperfect visually also dumped as well, which contribute a lot to food wastage.

Yeah, I honestly don't understand why we have so many strict regulations on fruit and veg that is "fit to eat". Who cares if that banana is 2 degrees more curved than most other bananas??? It still tastes the same.

 

[Esper]

However, I have a feeling that in order for a population-wide dietary shift towards reducing meat consumption and promoting veggie/more balanced diets to happen, there'd probably have to be a cultural shift towards socialism as well. Seems like the two would have to be linked for a more thorough transition.

Yes, sign me up.

But seriously, any attempt to address environmental problems, especially food waste/shortage, does need more of an organized effort and not the kind of go-it-alone attitude that our capitalist system encourages. It also seems like the best way to keep from having meat prices skyrocket (if you still want to eat meat) is a system more like socialism. Since rising populations demand more resources, and though I don't totally buy the Malthusian arguments, the inequality of capitalism will cause other conflicts which will destabilize food production and that will cause food prices to rise to very high levels and only the rich will be able to afford good food since there won't be enough to go around and if you're not well off you're going to have to make sacrifices in what you can afford.