Eco-valley » Vegetarianism

Scientific vegetarianism

Szilvia Rév — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:33:40 +0000

„Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood and adolescence.” – declared in a science magazine’s article (Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 2003. Vol 64. No 2).
Biological affects of meat free diet is examined on scientific way in the common position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada. Lacto-vegetarian and vegan diets are separately analysed.

See here the original article:
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/advocacy_933_ENU_HTML.htm

Save the World, be a vegetarian!

Szilvia Rév — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:32:12 +0000

Scientific facts corroborate, anyone easily become environmentalist. Join the populous camp of vegetarians!
- Will I be healthy?
- Yes!
Comparing with meat consumers, chance of vegetarians for different diseases of vascular and digest systems or high blood pressure are 30-70% less.

- Is it possible to produce all needful foodstuffs on a smaller field?
- Yes!
On 1.5 hectares you can produce food requirements for only one meat consumer, meanwhile six lacto-vegetarians could be fed from the same size of land.

- Can I reduce the rate of rain forests deforestation?
- Yes!
Stock farming needs pasture and cropland, therefore deforestation is continuous worldwide. For example thanks to beef stock breeding huge rain forests of South America became waste lands. Size of Central America’s forests decreased three-quarters during 25 years.
Each person who shifts to vegetarian diet saves 0.5 hectare forest per year.

- Can I reduce global climate change?
- Yes!
Meat consumers serving animal husbandry emits more greenhouse gas than the whole transport sector together.

- Can I help to slow down decrease of World’s drink water resources?
- Yes!
Because the water requirement of forage production a meat consumer indirectly uses twelve times and a lacto-vegetarian uses four times more water as a vegan (strictly vegetarian).

Source of facts: Réka Könczey, Andrea S. Nagy: Zöldköznapi Kalauz (published by Föld Napja Alapítvány, Budapest, 1997)

The weather-makers: meat consumption and climate change

Szilvia Rév — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:26:01 +0000

Even if connection between meat consumption and climate change is a clear fact according to scientific researches, it does not get appropriate publicity and attention. Meat production is one of the major reasons of climate change. Animal breeding farms and factories produce several million tons of CO2 and methane per year. These are the two major greenhouse gases (for example they give more than 90% of the US greenhouse gas emission). According to UNEP research 21 % of human kind’s CO2 emission is produced by animal breeding for human consumption (Physics World, July, 2005). Another fact is that, animal husbandry – which serves meat consumers – emits more greenhouse gas than the whole transport sector together.
According to researches, from 1.5 hectares arable land – which is enough to supply the food requirement of only one meat consumer – 6 lacto-vegetarians could be fed. All over the world jungles are continuously deforested because stock farming needs more and more pastures and croplands. For example, thanks to meat production and farming huge rain forests became deserted regions in South-America. Rain forests of Central-America decreased with more than three-quarters within 25 years. As scientists calculated each person who shift to vegetarian diet saves 0.5 hectare of forest per year. Considering threat of drink water crisis as well another important fact is that, the meat consumers indirectly use twelve times more water as vegetarians because the water requirement of forage production.
Therefore it is obvious: Through meat consumption, millions of people connected directly to that meat production sector which is a major reason for global warming. Gidon Eschel and Pamela Martin, geophysicist of Chicago University, got to the following conclusion. To shift to vegetarian diet is a more effective personal act against global warming than shifting a big petrol eater car to an economical hybrid car. Global warming is truly an “inconvenient true” as Al Gore presented convincingly, but time has also came to face the fact that extreme meat consumption is one of the most serious reason of world crisis.

András Kun