Dietary effect on Supply and Demand

by Subadra

On your global warming pie graph it shows that agricultural bi-products is 12.5 percent. Then it continues to show that it is a 40% contributer of methane. Methane is produced by livestock of the agricultural sector. You multiple this by 21 times in global warming effect calculations (because methane is 21 times more effective than carbon dioxide at acting as a greenhouse gas) and this is a significant contributer to global warming.

I think if we decrease demand for meat and increase the demand for organic vegetables we will have decreased methane emissions. We would also have made the world more sustainable because increasing vegetables in our diet decreases our height on the food chain thereby lessening our impact.

The UN has accepted livestock as a major contributer to global warming and might be considering lowering subsidies for that sector.

Barry's Response - That's good thinking, Subadra. Diets that are more vegetarian are more healthy as well, you could have noted. We can really get all of our nutritional needs from plant material. And what's good for us and good for our planet must be good in general. Thank you for your input.

No doubt about it, though. Those of us who enjoy our meat, really enjoy their meat and it will be a major change for anyone to give that up suddenly. A reasonable reduction may happen over time. See the movie Food Inc. sometime.

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