Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
that much seems agreed, and if we applied it to our beef protein ratio of 12.5:1, that would
bring it to close to 9:1.
However the 1.4 figure refers only to protein, not to energy, and in most diets energy
is the critical factor, not protein. Anybody deriving sufficient energy from a diet based on
grains and pulses, is likely to be ingesting adequate quantities of proteins. However, when
the staple is a root crop, such as cassava or sweet potatoes, is there a strong possibility that
a diet supplying sufficient calories may be deficient in protein. Phenomenal quantities of
potatoes have to be eaten to provide a protein rich diet, and where potatoes are the main
staple for poor people, milk or some other animal food is usually consumed as a supple-
ment. A relatively small amount of meat or dairy can help to ensure adequate intake of nu-
tritive elements such as vitamins A and B, calcium, iron and zinc, in circumstances where
it is hard to obtain these through a balanced vegan diet.
There is also value in meat and dairy produce because they add variety to what might
otherwise be a boring diet. In circumstances where good quality vegetable oil is not easily
obtainable - for example Papua New Guinea or northern Europe - the fat content of meat
or dairy is particularly highly valued. A vegan society, unless desperately short of land,
would normally devote some of it to producing low yielding nuts or other delicacies to add
variety to its staple diet, and some value must be accorded to meat for providing the same
service. This is an important factor but there are diminishing returns. A society which eats
meat only on occasional feast days clearly rates the variety factor very high indeed, where-
as the average North American eating over half a pound of meat a day barely notices it. The
provision of variety is arguably not a matter which should be factored into the equation, but
one that should be given weight after comparing conversion factors, as in this imaginary
example:
Under prevailing circumstances in the community, it takes four kilos of feed to
produce one kilo of pork: however villagers view that consigning 20 per cent of all
their grain towards the production of a volume of pork which represents barely 6 per
cent of their total food intake is worth it in terms of the variety added to the diet.
Bearing all this in mind, I am inclined to take the nutritional value of animal food as be-
ing about 1.2 times as great as that of grains.
Byproducts
In one of the 'ten-to-one' quotations cited in the panel “Ten to One - A Strange Attract-
or,” Jeremy Rifkin mentions animal byproducts - and discounts them:
