Why eat low on the food chain from 2010 cip talk
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Transcript of Why eat low on the food chain from 2010 cip talk
A vegan approach to Environmental Management
Dr. Michael C. MorrisBay of Plenty Polytechnic
Don’t Shoot the MessengerHow does the scene from MacBeth show the way we react to news we don’t like?
Rachel Carson published silent spring in 1962
The industry reacted by personal attacks. Rachel Carson is an embittered spinster, or a Lesbian (therefore by implication ignorant)
The Food and Agriculture Organisation published “livestock’s long shadow” in 2006.
Here is Federated Farmers’ intelligent, measured and scientific response
“it must be written by a vegan” (and therefore by implication wrong)
So vegans are the Lesbians of the 2000s!
The Elephant in the roomClick to edit Master text stylesSecond level
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Environmental degradation has been blamed on...PopulationTransportIndustrial growthCapitalismLack of capitalismCommunismLack of communismGovernment corruptionGod’s wrathEtc...
But what about our “SAD” diet
Ecology 101For every step up the food chain, the amount of resources (land, water, fuel, energy etc.) goes up by a factor of ten
So passing food through a cow before eating it is very inefficient
Global warming
Agriculture is responsible for 50% of global warming in New Zealand. More than any other industryThis is caused by methane from cow burps (not farts) and nitrous oxide from animal waste
Worldwide, livestock accounts for 18% of all greenhouse gases. More than transport.
Rats
Rats with wings!!!Locusts with tits!
Source: Eshel and Martin 2006
Conclusion from Eshel and Martin studyA vegan in a SUV has the same effect as a red-blooded American (or Kiwi) meat eater in a Prius
Water use1kg of meat requires
10,000 L of water
Photo: David Hamilton, Waikato University
Photo David Hamilton
Habitat destruction
Easter Island
Christchurch and the Canterbury Plains
Photo: Nzescape.com
Illegal Amazonian Deforestation for Soybean production
Photo: Gilbert van Reenan
Kahikatea forest
Hauraki Plains
Photo: Environment Waikato
Some factsLand clearance for farms is a leading cause of sediment build up and coral reef destructionLand clearance for meat is the leading cause of Amazonian deforestationAlmost all of New Zealand’s lowland Kahikatea forest has goneNew Zealand is a biodiversity “hotspot”Import of Palm kernel is contributing to rain forest destruction in Borneo
Water pollution
Some figures90% of Waikato streams are too polluted to swim inFarming in the Waikato contributes more to stream pollution than the Hamilton and Ngarawahia sewage worksA piggery of 16,000 pigs produces as much untreated sewage as a city of 23,000Reid’s piggery in Carterton and the Kuku Beach Road piggery have been convicted for pumping raw sewage into the rivers
Fertiliser supply
Fertiliser ship unloading in Tauranga
Photo: Western Sahara Watch
Photo: Republic of Nauru
Some FactsNew Zealand fertiliser use has doubled in the last 10 years
Most of this finds its way into streams
Nauru’s fishery has been totally destroyed by phosphate mining
Present phosphate in New Zealand comes from disputed territory in the Western Sahara
Human rightsLivestock agriculture
cannot feed the worldSource: Bender, W.H. 1997. How much food will weneed in the 21st Century? Environment. 39: 6-11, 27-28.
1 The actual world population in 1990 was 5.3 billion.
Population that could be fed if everyone shared the dietary preferences and food system efficiencies of:
USA 2.3 billion
New Zealand 3 billion
Europe 4.1 billion
Japan 6.1 billion
Bangladesh 10.9 billion
Subsistence only 15 billion
Population that could be fed if everyone shared the dietary preferences and food system efficiencies of:
Source: Bender, W.H. 1997. How much food will weneed in the 21st Century? Environment. 39: 6-11, 27-28.
1 The actual world population in 1990 was 5.3 billion.
Health
Eating low on the food chain prevents• Adult onset diabetes• Kidney Stones• Breast prostrate and pancreatic cancer
There are 90 million broiler chickens in New Zealand. Antibiotics are imported by the truck load to prevent these very sick individuals from dying before we are ready to kill themThe source of the swine flu epidemic has been traced to a factory piggery in MexicoBird flu outbreaks start in factory farms
Animal Welfare
Layer hens
Photo: Wellington Animal Rights Network
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Photo: Open Rescue Coalition
Broiler chickens (NZ)
Photo: Auckland Animal Action
Pigs
mulesingClick to edit Master text stylesSecond level
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Vivisection
Some myths about meat
Myth 1: Human canines show humans are designed to eat meat
The truth: Have a look at the skulls in the next slides
Baboons and Mandrills
Chimpanzee
Gorilla
Biggest Canine Joke in the Animal Kingdom!
Homo Sapiens
Myth 2: Meat is necessary for protein
The truth: Have a look at the protein tables below
Food source Protein in 100g Cost (NZD) Cost per 100g protein
Egg, whole, raw 12.0g $7.36 (battery eggs, size 7, 30 pack (approx. 1.470kg))
$4.17
Peas, frozen 5.4g $2.00/kg (Watties)
$3.70
Sunflower seeds, kernel, dried
22.8g $7.90/kg $3.47
Cheese, Edam 26.7g $8.10/kg (Basics brand)
$3.03
Peanuts, raw 24.3g $6.90/kg $2.84Rolled oats, raw 13.5g $3.82/1.8kg
(Basics brand)$1.57
Protein composition and price of eggs and various plant sources. Food composition data comes from the New Zealand Food Composition Tables, 6th Edition (Ministry of Health/Crop and Food Research, 2003). Price data comes from Woolworths online (www.woolworths.co.nz, accessed 23 June 2006).
Myth 3: Meat eating is what gave humans their brain power
The truth: Genetic studies show human brain power is more to do with the ability to digest starch. There are several copies of the amylase gene in humans.
Myth 4: God wants us to eat meat.
The truth: Adam and Eve and all the animals were vegan before the fall. Gen. 1:29
Other rationalisationsOur ancestors ate meat
Response. Our ancestors also lived in caves, spoke in grunts, had poor hygiene and did not own cell phones. Most of us have moved on since then.
Meat tastes nice.
Response: Since when has pleasure been a basis for moral decision making. Maybe children taste nice too!
Animal eat other animals
Response. Most animals don’t eat other animals. And why should we base our morality on the few that do.
Conclusion – something to think aboutCan you be an environmentalist and continue to...
Drive a SUVChop down treesPour pollutants into streamsTake food from the poor
Or
Eat high on the food chain