Indian Pirates should campaign against the use of meat as a food source
vik@hamara
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Meat as a food source for humans is unsustainable at a world population size of 7 billion and climbing.
Animal Agriculture is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions - that's more than all vehicle exhaust combined. (United Nations - http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM)
Water Consumption for Animal Agriculture ranges between 34-76 trillion gallons annually.
Livestock or livestock feed occupies 1/3 of the earth’s ice-free land.
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, and habitat destruction.
82% of the world’s starving children live in countries where food is fed to animals that are then killed and eaten by more well off individuals in developed countries.
India produced 2681000 tonnes of meat in 2013 (https://data.gov.in/catalog/stateut-wise-estimates-meat-production).
Beef production consumes on average 4 million gallons of water per tonne.
Vegetable production consumes 85,000 gallons of water per tonne.
We currently grow enough grain on the planet to feed a population of 10 billion - no one needs to be without food.
vik@hamara Wed 7 Oct 2015 5:44PM
@balasankarchelamat If animal agriculture occupies 1/3 of the total ice free land on the planet - then I think it's pretty fair to say that would effect the supply and price of vegetables. The numbers (1/3 of all land) are colossal and in no way represent a "natural way" of human life.
Even if we talk about a natural way of life - meat consumption would usually be down to necessity - that is not where we are now - and it cannot feed 7 billion people.
"Impacts from agriculture are expected to increase substantially due to population growth and increasing consumption of animal products. Unlike fossil fuels, it is difficult to look for alternatives: people have to eat. A substantial reduction of impacts would only be possible with a substantial worldwide diet change, away from animal products."
http://www.unep.org/resourcepanel/Portals/24102/PDFs/PriorityProductsAndMaterials_Report.pdf
vik@hamara Wed 7 Oct 2015 5:46PM
Additionally we should also give some thought to the fish
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/15/tuna-and-mackerel-populations-suffer-catastrophic-74-decline-research-shows
vik@hamara Sat 10 Oct 2015 6:47PM
So, would people here agree with the suggestion of @praveenarimbrathod ? This could be a compromise that allows us to agree in a proposal. I would also accept the position of being against meat exports.
vik@hamara Sat 10 Oct 2015 6:48PM
@praveenarimbrathod would you also adopt the same position for imports?
vik@hamara Fri 16 Oct 2015 3:36PM
With another mob murder being reported today, I feel I have to reluctantly back down from my position so as not to link Indian Pirates with any of the sentiment of the Nationalist who seem hell bent on stoking communal violence in the name of their religious food preference. Shame really, but am digging my bunker ready for the post apocalyptic future. Ping me offline if you want a space in it!
Pirate Praveen Sun 25 Oct 2015 8:10AM
All cattle, whether raised for milking, ploughing or the slaughterhouse, emit methane as part of their digestive process.
http://scroll.in/article/764422/
How much methane a cow belches depends on its diet. An assessment of methane emissions from cattle across India’s agro-ecological regions showed that cattle that were on production diets to optimize their breeding, milking or working emitted more methane than those on growth and maintenance diets.
India released as much carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gas from its rice paddies in the period between 1990 and 2012 as its non-dairy cattle belched.
⚓⚑Arjun⚓⚑ Sun 25 Oct 2015 11:16AM
If methan IS such a big problem , why not use it to our benefit? ..
And it looks like there are people other than us who care about the same issue.. check this website out.. http://www.environmentalengineering.in/Biogas.htm
The Project has two parts.
Ist part Deals in separating impurities such as moisture, Carbon dioxide and Hydrogen sulfide and generating pure Methane from Biogas.
IInd part Deals in Filtering, compressing and filling Methane in a Gas Bottle i.e. a CNG Dispenser making it suitable as an IC Engine fuel.
vik@hamara Sun 25 Oct 2015 12:35PM
@arjun good luck collecting that methane!
vik@hamara Sun 25 Oct 2015 12:40PM
@praveenarimbrathod this is not an accurate comparison. You cannot for example, compare the CO2 output of rice production vs non diary cattle, without comparing the food output from both.
When you compare the actual amount of food produced from rice vs non diary cattle and then factor it against greenhouse gas production - you will see again that it makes no sense at all (in greenhouse gas terms) to use meat as a food source.
There are of course the remaining arguments of deforestation, river and sea pollution etc.
Balasankar C · Wed 7 Oct 2015 4:52PM
@vik any citation to justify that claim? vegetable prices => less resource => due to more animal agriculture .. I want the science and statistics,on which you said earlier you are depending your argument on.
Can't the lack of supply in vegetables be accounted to other important factors, like land misuse etc, before we point towards animal agriculture? Banning meat seems to be against the natural way of human life, who were (and still are) omnivores.. Sure, situations changing would need man to adapt. But here, I don't think quitting meat eating is the agreeable compromise.