In order to feed a growing global population, the United Nations has projected we will need to produce at least 50% more food by 2050 without using any more land. At the same time, we will need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture by two-thirds in order to meet the minimum climate targets to […]
Last month, the world’s leading body of climate scientists, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published the fourth and final installment of a rigorous multi-year assessment that marks their most dire and urgent climate analysis to date. The report synthesizes scientists’ key findings, predictions, and recommendations for the best ways to reduce […]
Our bean project needs sponsors! Will you show some love? Did you know that pulses— the dry, edible seeds of legumes, which includes beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils— are one of the best foods for heart health? Not only do they confer a host of protective and preventative heart benefits, but doctors say eating pulses […]
In their most dire climate report to date, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has urged a switch to plant-based diets as the single most important shift individuals can make to halt the course of climate warming and prevent the most catastrophic impacts. For the first time in 34 years since the United […]
In one of the largest multi-year studies of its kind, a report published last year in the International Journal of Epidemiology looked at more than 81,000 Seventh-day Adventists in the US and Canada, with participants pretty evenly split between vegetarians and meat-eaters. From 2002 to 2007, participants kept records of what kinds of foods they […]
In recent decades, leading environmental organizations and policy makers have been conspicuously silent on the environmental impacts of our food choices. In particular, many activists have critiqued the absence of dialogue around the disproportionately destructive impacts of animal agriculture. But that appears to be changing.
Animal gifting charities encourage supporters to purchase cows and goats for families in countries experiencing extreme hunger and poverty, often pointing to traditions such as pastoralism and nomadic herders’ longstanding reliance on livestock for sustenance. However, in response to climate change, pastoralists are increasingly abandoning animal husbandry and shifting to growing drought tolerant crops and climate resilient, indigenous fruits and vegetables instead.
A new Harvard study finds that shifting to all grass-fed beef production in the U.S. would require 30% more cattle just to keep pace with present production. It would also increase beef’s methane emissions by 43% and would require more pastureland than we have. The researchers conclude the only way to guarantee lower environmental impacts is by reducing beef consumption overall.
The holiday season is officially upon us, and groups like Heifer International and OxFam are ramping up their “animal gifting” donation campaigns with a deluge of catalogs and emails encouraging people to “gift” farmed animals to food insecure families in developing countries. But animal agriculture is a leading contributor to climate change and food insecurity. Here’s why efforts to reduce global hunger should focus on sustainable plant-based approaches wherever possible.
Animal agriculture is a major driver of climate change and food insecurity. Efforts to reduce hunger should focus on sustainable plant-based approaches wherever possible. Here’s why and how.
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