New Report Calls for Meat Rationing to Slow Climate Change
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 09.30.08
A new report from the Food Climate Research Network at the University of Surrey says people will have to be rationed to four modest portions of meat and one litre of milk a week if the world is to avoid run-away climate change.
According to Juliette Jowit in the Guardian, the report says "total food consumption should be reduced, especially "low nutritional value" treats such as alcohol, sweets and chocolates."
Having fun yet?
that is a proper portion size
Jowit writes about the report:
"It urges people to return to habits their mothers or grandmothers would have been familiar with: buying locally in-season products, cooking in bulk and in pots with lids or pressure cookers, avoiding waste and walking to the shops - alongside more modern tips such as using the microwave and internet shopping.
The report goes much further than any previous advice after mounting concern about the impact of the livestock industry on greenhouse gases and rising food prices. It follows a four-year study of the impact of food on climate change and is thought to be the most thorough study of its kind.
Tara Garnett, the report's author, warned that campaigns encouraging people to change their habits voluntarily were doomed to fail and urged the government to use caps on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon pricing to ensure changes were made. "Food is important to us in a great many cultural and symbolic ways, and our food choices are affected by cost, time, habit and other influences," the report says. "Study upon study has shown that awareness-raising campaigns alone are unlikely to work, particularly when it comes to more difficult changes."
Others call this an over-reaction.
"The notion that cows and sheep are four-legged weapons of mass destruction has become something of a distraction from the real issues in both climate change and food production," said Pat Thomas, the Ecologist's editor. ::The Guardian
Other Meaty Stories in TreeHugger
UN Expert Says Eat Less Red Meat To Reduce CO2 Emissions :
Meat -eating Warrants Same Scrutiny as Driving and Flying :
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