Matt SheardEvery time I see this diagram I get a sinking feeling. It shows just how severe the crisis we face is. We need to dramatically reduce size of the RH side, this means a global campaign to reduce meat consumption. Politically difficult, hard for people for whom meat consumption is part of the self image, but we can't restore the stability of our ecosystem without doing this.
Vilhelm Rothe@sheardyweirdy Absolutely, and excuse my ignorance, but are buffalo livestock?
Thanasis Kinias@vilhelmr @sheardyweirdy
There are now buffalo raised in captivity for meat, though I don’t know if the data source for this chart distinguishes wild from captive buffalo. (There isn’t the same clear biological difference between wild and domesticated animals here as there is with most other livestock.)
There are now buffalo raised in captivity for meat, though I don’t know if the data source for this chart distinguishes wild from captive buffalo. (There isn’t the same clear biological difference between wild and domesticated animals here as there is with most other livestock.)
Good question. The classification includes Water Buffalo "more people depend on them than on any other domestic animal" according to wikipedia. Though maybe we need to focus on reducing numbers of cows as these are the main problem species and tackle the others later.
@sheardyweirdy Right, water buffalo, I have seen lots of those as livestock. I just looked at the icons and imagined late herds of buffalo roaming across the American plains.
I read recently that Buffalo / Bison are being reintroduced into native American lands in the US. This is probably a good thing from the point of view of restoring ecosystem balance but I'd like expert comment on this to be sure.
Lee Fife@sheardyweirdy My current approach is to advocate for eating less meat, rather than trying to push people into full vegetarianism.
It's like carpooling: if you share a ride w/ one person, you just cut car usage in half.
Similarly, if you just eat less meat, #meatlessMondays, #vegLunch, etc., then you've cut meat consumption significantly. And it's a lot easier for people to eat less than to eat none....
@colo_lee @sheardyweirdy
Yes, I think this is the way to go: imagine the difference it would make if we all only ate meat once or twice a week.
Traditional uses of meat as ‘seasoning’ rather than nutrient base can help as well: I’m thinking here of things like adding a bit of bacon or ham hock to a bean dish.
Completely agree. I'm vegetarian and have been trying to 'transition' to veganism, and it ain't easy. So I sympathise with people trying to reduce meat consumption.
I'm concerned that the focus on #CarbonEmissions is obscuring the need to restore our #Ecosystems and increase #CarbonSequestration.
@sheardyweirdy Same here. Vegetarian who is increasing my #PlantBased eating. I don't quite imagine ever going fully vegan (almost everyone I know who tried is no longer vegan). But, I'm happy to eat vegan for many/most of my meals!
logan@colo_lee @sheardyweirdy
I may be accidentally a part time vegan XD depending if mr.noodles is vegan friendly or not.
though i wont claim to have a health diet even if it is semi vegan friendly.
I may be accidentally a part time vegan XD depending if mr.noodles is vegan friendly or not.
though i wont claim to have a health diet even if it is semi vegan friendly.
@colo_lee @sheardyweirdy
when i'm hungry but too lazy to cook something i just pop some mr.noodle package into my coffee mug (it's literally the perfect size for it) and use the keurig to provide hot water to "cook" it.
when i'm hungry but too lazy to cook something i just pop some mr.noodle package into my coffee mug (it's literally the perfect size for it) and use the keurig to provide hot water to "cook" it.
@colo_lee @sheardyweirdy making sure to check the keurig for spent pods of course, i've also accidently made coffee+mr.noodles a few times 😆
abhijith@sheardyweirdy It is a misconception that all of the livestock is for meat consumption. India has a large section of vegetarians who raise cattle to consume milk. The number of such cattle outnumber cattle raised for meat by a huge margin. While a person in Europe cuts down a few grams of meat in their diet a vegetarian Indian person's cow gives birth to another calf.
@sheardyweirdy @tkinias I would even say that vegetarianism is more to blame for the staggering number of cattle. India, where forget eating, even harming a cow can land you in trouble is home to one third of total cattle population in the world. Trust me. Indian farmers who own cattle do not eat beef.
@abhijith @sheardyweirdy
yeah, India is a very particular case here—and especially complicated given the current political atmosphere
yeah, India is a very particular case here—and especially complicated given the current political atmosphere
You're right of course. We need to cut down on dairy as well. As I said in another reply I'm a vegetarian struggling to eliminate dairy from my diet. So I understand this is difficult and that the 'west' needs to do this sooner and faster than the rest of the world, but we must.
@sheardyweirdy No. Not the west. When it comes to cattle India and Brazil have half the cattle in the whole world. While the west can take the blame for emissions and energy consumption, this one is on us.
Two things:
Can I wean myself off Matar Paneer!!
Brazil are destroying rainforest to supply the west with beef. Are India's farmers destroying the indigenous ecosystem to produce dairy foods for local consumption?
I still think the onus is on us to lead on this an support others to follow.
@sheardyweirdy Local consumption is the primary aim. India has been a milk loving country since ancient times. Most of our sweets are milk based products. We have milk tea/coffee twice a day. Milk products like paneer, curd, butter, ghee etc are very common ingredients in our cuisine.