United Nations says Eat Less Meat

Well now, here's a new twist on why to give up eating our animal friends - do it to combat global warming. I like that! One more reason to consider this healthy life style even tho' this one will have people scratching their heads or snickering behind their hands.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Chairman, Rajendra Pachauri

To combat global warming, Dr Rajendra Pachauri, head of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, advises, "Give up meat for one day [a week] initially, and decrease it from there." Pachauri is a vegetarian himself, and points out that greenhouse gas emissions and habitat destruction are associated with animal agriculture.

To most animal advocates, this is old news. Even to the United Nations, this is old news.

Sadly, some environmentalists still have their heads [politely] in the sand when it comes to this issue. Rain forest Action Network found that holding vegetarian events alienated some of the people they wanted to work with, including some of their own staff.

To Al Gore, the role of animal agriculture in global warming is the most inconvenient truth.

Most people don't think of global warming as an animal rights issue, but global warming is a threat to all wild and domestic animals. Anthony Marr, an animal rights activist and author of "Homo Sapiens, Save Your Earth!" is dedicating his life this year to this issue.

Of course, being vegan is better than being vegetarian from both an environmental and animal rights standpoint. Buying eggs and dairy products would still support animal agriculture.

Freegan living is probably the most earth-friendly way to get your daily bread and other commodities. By utilizing food and other products that are discarded by others, freegans truly minimize their ecological footprint.

My thanks to Doris Lin for her article at About.com

This topic seems to be hitting the internet all at the same time and I can't be happier to see it getting attention even though some of that attention will be negative.

Another article, this time from Juliette Jowit, environment editor of The Observer in the UK, says

'His [Rajendra Pachauri's] comments are the most controversial advice yet provided by the panel on how individuals can help tackle global warning. Perhaps so, but then it's always been the radicals who have made the changes in our world and most of them have been good.

However, he also stressed other changes in lifestyle would help to combat climate change. 'That's what I want to emphasize: we really have to bring about reductions in every sector of the economy.'

Pachauri can expect some vociferous responses from the food industry to his advice, though last night he was given unexpected support by Masterchef presenter and restaurateur John Torode, who is about to publish a new book, John Torode's Beef. 'I have a little bit and enjoy it,' said Torode. 'Too much for any person becomes gluttony. But there's a bigger issue here: where [the meat] comes from. If we all bought British and stopped buying imported food we'd save a huge amount of carbon emissions.'

Tomorrow, Pachauri will speak at an event hosted by animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming, which has calculated that if the average UK household halved meat consumption that would cut emissions more than if car use was cut in half.

The group has called for governments to lead campaigns to reduce meat consumption by 60 per cent by 2020.

Campaigners have also pointed out the health benefits of eating less meat. The average person in the UK eats 50g of protein from meat a day, equivalent to a chicken breast and a lamb chop - a relatively low level for rich nations but 25-50 per cent more than World Heath Organisation guidelines.

Professor Robert Watson, the chief scientific adviser for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, who will also speak at tomorrow's event in London, said government could help educate people about the benefits of eating less meat, but it should not 'regulate'. 'Eating less meat would help, there's no question about that, but there are other things,' Watson said.

This article in it's entirety can be read by going to

There are many places addressing this as I've mentioned already. To see them I've listed them here for however the links are hot. Forgive me if they pull the piece before you've had a chance to read it.
There is the Time article, in partnership with CNN.
And BBC World News America.
Also The Telegraph.

In fact, just about everywhere I've gone in the last few days, people and papers have been talking about this. It seems the threat of taking away peoples 'meat' is having a profound impact on everyone and it's funny to me how it took something like global warming and going green to perhaps force people to be humane.