Many people on our planet simply don’t understand the connection between meat and the climate change. Here is an attempt to decode it :
Major cause of climate change is the Greenhouse gas emissions. We often talk about and are also looking at cutting down our dependency on fossil fuels – specially for automobiles and cooking. You may be surprised to know that Meat is the worst culprit for climate change. Red meat is particularly to blame, since it consumes 11 times more water and produces 5 times more emissions than its poultry counterparts.
To get a single pound of beef, it takes over 5,000 gallons of water – as the number one consumer of freshwater in the world, animal agriculture is drastically increasing the problem of water scarcity.
Impact on SDG 2 – Zero Hunger
“Sustainable and healthy diets will require a move towards a mostly plant-based diet,” said Colin Khoury, a biologist at the Colombia-based International Centre for Tropical Agriculture.
Despite a rapidly rising world population, there are 216 million fewer hungry people on earth today than in 1990, the FAO reported in May. But with the global population expected to climb to 8.5 billion by 2030, from 7.3 billion now, and climate change predicted to ravage yields in some nations, ending hunger will require tough choices in the field and on the dinner table.
Food wastage is another key challenge that needs to be curbed in order to meet SDG2. And this needs a lot of technology support and mindset shift. World produces enough food for all – storage and distribution are the issues.
(Ref : https://www.huffpost.com )
