Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The authors of
Livestock and Climate Change
, emboldened perhaps by the success of the
FAO's 18 per cent, appear to have whipped themselves into a state of statistical hysteria,
where the GHG emissions they attribute to livestock have swelled to such proportions that
those attributed by the IPCC to fossil fuels and other sources have magically shrunk into
insignificance. The undisguised message is that cutting emissions from fossil fuels is not
worth bothering about:
A substantial body of theory, beliefs, and even vested interest has been built up
around the idea of slowing climate change through renewable energy and energy effi-
ciency. However, after many years of international climate talks and practical efforts,
only relatively modest amounts of renewable energy have been developed … GHG
emissions have increased since the Kyoto Protocol was signed … Action to replace
livestock products not only can achieve quick reductions in atmospheric GHGs but
can also reverse the ongoing world and water crises.
The action G&A propose is the production and high-pressure marketing of analogue
meat products made from 'superfoods' like spun soya protein. They advise promoters
of these products, like McDonalds, to orient their advertising heavily towards children
who are the 'most susceptible' consumers, and the illustrated examples of imitation meat
products such as Morning Star 'Bacon Strips' and Quorn Naked Chikn Cutlets [
sic
] fit this
bill. G&A show minimal interest in reviving traditional, slow food diets founded on whole
grains and pulses, fresh vegetables and imaginative use of low levels of default meat, offal
and dairy. The heavily processed and packaged products they advocate are symptomatic of
urbanized societies reliant on high levels of transport, refrigeration, waste and energy use
- but what else should one expect from an author who works for the International Finance
Corporation, a body that has long been criticized by NGOs for investing in 100,000 hectare
latifundias, factory farms, luxury hotels, water privatization, soya bean and palm oil plant-
ations and the like? The world that these World Bank representatives describe may turn out
to be the one our children will inherit. But if the human race can only be saved from global
warming by living on a diet of turkey-less twizzlers, one wonders if it is really worth sav-
ing.
1
E.g. Goodland, R (1988), 'Environmental Sustainability in Agriculture: Bioethical and Religious Arguments Against
Carnivory' in Lemons, J, Westra, L and Goodland, R (eds),
Ecological Sustainability
, Kluwer Academic, pp 235-5.
2
Fairlie, S (2002),
The Prospect of Cornutopia, or If Global Warming Didn't Exist We Would Have To Invent It
,
Chapter 7 Publications, also published as 'The Prospect of Cornucopia', in
Irish Pages
, Autumn Winter 2002/3, p 224;
Orr, David (1992), 'Pascal's Wager and Economics in a Hotter Time',
The Ecologist,
22:2, pp 42-3.
3
www.lists.oppn.org/pipermail/org.opn.lists.garbanzo/2005-August/000405.html
, now unobtainable.
4
Calverd, A (2005), 'A Radical Approach to Kyoto',
Physics World
, July 2005.
5
Steinfeld, H
et al
(2006),
Livestock's Long Shadow
, FAO.
