Meat reduction
A consuming passion
Sydney Morning Herald / Nick Galvin / 22 November 2011
With his wire-rimmed spectacles, linen jacket and lanky frame, Tim Lang looks like everyone's idea of the mild-mannered Englishman abroad.
However, any impression of diffidence is dispelled the minute he begins expounding on his topic of expertise: the problem with food. His passion and conviction is unmistakable as he argues our food system is essentially ''broken'' and failing to act will be catastrophic.
Lang, visiting Australia for a series of symposiums on food security, is the professor of food policy at London's City University and president of British charity Garden Organic.
He is the academic best known as the ''father'' of the food miles concept (see below), convinced the global food system must be remade from the ground up.
It's not yet a full-blown crisis - in the developed world at least - but we are facing disaster unless we rethink everything about the way we produce, distribute and consume food, he says. Think of a global issue, from peak oil to biodiversity and climate change to obesity, and it can be tracked back to food.
Meat from Gate to Plate
Mother Earth News / Newsletter / 14 September 2011
For more than 30 years, master butcher Cole Ward has been teaching chefs, butchers, farmers, caterers and meat-lovers how to cut and prepare their own meat. Cole believes locavores are looking for healthy foods that are locally raised without chemical fertilizers, hormones or antibiotics. In a nutshell, food that's derived from a farming style that's sustainable and keeps dollars in our local community. In this blog, you'll learn tricks and tips for making the most of the meat you bring home from butchers with a passion for sustainable food.
Beyond food miles
Post-Carbon Institute / Michael Bomford / 09 March 2011
Choosing local food is one way to reduce food system energy use; but even more effective ways include:
1. Choosing whole foods over processed foods;
2. Getting a small, energy-efficient refrigerator and getting rid of extra refrigerators;
3. Replacing animal products with grain and vegetable-based proteins;
4. Drinking tap water instead of processed beverages;
5. Choosing food that was grown in a region well-suited to the crop, using methods that build soil and rely primarily on sunshine for energy and rainfall for water.
By combining tactics we can eat well using much less energy than we currently do. An understanding of the food system helps put our various food choices in context. Following a single, hard-and-fast rule—even a seemingly-obvious one like "always eat local food"—can lead us astray.
Gloomy Malthus provides food for thought as world's appetite builds
The Telegraph / Liam Halligan / 05 March 2011
For it was Malthus who, in a path-breaking 1798 essay, grimly observed that populations expand geometrically while food supplies increase only arithmetically. In other words, mankind faces serious problems because population growth, by definition, will eventually outstrip the planet’s ability to provide food.
Working paper: Redesigning Food Growing and Distribution in the Ottawa Bioregion
Transition Ottawa / Kaia Nightingale / 01 November 2010
One of the goals of Transition Towns is to become more locally resilient. A large part of this resilience is about food sourcing and distribution. Our basic food needs could be sourced within a short distance of this city. Our food would be fresher and less oil dependent. We would have more connection with the farms that grow our food, create more local employment, and build more sense of community.
This paper is the draft of a paper created by TTO member Kaia for the Canadian Biodiversity Institute. This paper will eventually form part of a larger document called A Citizen's Action Plan on Climate Change and Oil Uncertainty, and their effects on Food, Water and Energy Security for Ottawa.
The Meat of the Matter
Civil Eats / Naomi Starkman / 03 November 2010
Bottom line: Eat lower on the food chain. Factory farmed lamb and beef, have the highest GHG impact—more than twice that of pork and chicken and more than five times that of veggie proteins—like beans, lentils and tofu, which have very low emissions. Cheese consumption has the third largest impact, when compared by weight. Waste accounts for about one-third of overall emissions associated with a pound of beef or chicken. "This is because a tremendous amount of resources go into producing wasted food which then ends up in the landfill generating additional methane," Hamerschlag said. "Besides reducing our demand, reducing waste would be the other critical thing we need to do as a society to combat climate change and reduce the negative impact of agriculture."
‘Semi-vegetarianism’ could ease global warming
Arizona Daily Wildcat / Dunja Nedic / 26 October 2009
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that the global surface temperature is likely to rise up to 11.5°F by the year 2100, setting into motion a slew of catastrophic consequences for our planet, such as a rise in sea level, increasingly frequent heat waves and periods of heavy precipitation and more severe tropical cyclones. Numerous species will become extinct, which will wreak havoc on our ecosystem.
And if you’re dumb enough to think this won’t affect you, then perhaps give some thought to the impact global warming will have on the economy. According to the United Nations Environment Programme, the banking, transport and agricultural industries will all likely suffer due to climate change.
And you thought the global financial crisis was bad now.
So what can we do? For the average college student, financial viability takes precedence over environmentally friendly alternatives to their lifestyle and this is completely understandable. Installing solar panels on your home and buying a Toyota Prius are simply not feasible ways to reduce your carbon footprint for most people. But there is a way to minimize the detrimental impact that you personally are having on our environment without having to make a radical change to your lifestyle or budget.
The answer is semi-vegetarianism.
