Informing ourselves of true carbon meat costs.

A landmark report has been officially supported by the British Departments of Health as well as Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the United Nations World Health Organization, and others.

Published in the esteemed medical journal, The Lancet, the report advises that both meat production and consumption be reduced by one-third, as the only way to meet the country’s ambitious carbon emission reduction goals. Furthermore, citizens would be more than compensated by direct and favorable effects on health. Dr. Alan Dangour - London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK: The policy is reduced production, because our primary aim is to reduce carbon emissions, and we’re saying, in our series of papers, look at the health co-benefits. I think it is important for people to become much more aware about the true carbon costs of food production. Meat and meat products and dairy have an enormous carbon cost.

Today, the climate savings of plant-based eating are abundantly known, such as findings that a vegetarian diet saves more greenhouse gases than a hybrid car, or that an animal-free vegan diet reduces emissions by 94% compared to one with meat-based fare.

Regarding health savings, co-author Dr. Alan Dangour of the UK’s London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine stated that these could be even greater than the 18,000 lives forecast to be saved from heart disease alone if other meat-related diseases, such as colorectal cancer and obesity, were included. The hope is that knowing the true health costs will prompt the public to voluntarily shift away from harmful animal products. Dr. Alan Dangour: That information and the knowledge of the risks of climate change combined should allow them to make decisions about their future consumption patterns.

Our thanks Dr. Dangour and all researchers involved, as well as the British and United Nations officials who are prudently weighing the climate costs of livestock raising and meat consumption. May we all choose the plant-based diet to save our lives and the planet. In addressing the impacts of meat on all areas of our lives, Supreme Master Ching Hai has for decades urged the remedy of the vegan diet as in a May 2008 videoconference in South Korea.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: You see the meat diet not only causes the greatest emission of poisonous gas into the planet atmosphere but many other costs. There is the transportation energy cost, the electricity energy cost, there’s water wasting cost, there’s a land resource occupation cost, there’s a deforestation cost and there’s a related illness medical cost and there’s the grievance, sorrow of the people who lost loved ones due to disease related to meat diet cost.

And because we use food to feed livestock for human consumption instead of feeding directly to humans, therefore there is the cost of war and famine due to shortage of food and resources. Add them together, then we will see the real answer. So, right now, what’s good for our planet – vegan diet - we do it. We try as best as we can.

Reference:
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/11/25/Brit-official-backs-meat-reduction-report/UPI-81791259183429/
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6933045.ece

Alcohol a lethal substance globally

Researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada have found that alcohol is responsible for one in 25 deaths internationally, one in 10 deaths in Europe, and one in seven deaths in the former Soviet Union countries.

Although moderate intake is often touted as an effective protection against cardiovascular disease, the researchers also noted that these so-called benefits were far outweighed by the significantly greater risk of disease associated with alcohol consumption, including mouth and throat cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, depression and stroke.

Professor Ian Gilmore, president of Britain’s Royal College of Physicians, stated, “This study is a global wake-up call. We need an international framework convention for alcohol control, similar to that on tobacco, as soon as possible, to put into practice the evidence-based measures needed to reduce alcohol-related harm.

These include increasing the price of alcohol, reducing its availability and banning advertising, and the action needs to start now."

Our grateful thanks, University of Toronto scientists and Professor Gilmore for this comprehensive study and compelling call to action. We look forward to seeing successful policies of governments worldwide that bring the freedom of alcohol-free lives to societies everywhere.

Reference
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8118475.stm

Scientists raise alert levels of the link between meat and cancer

UK cancer researchers conducted a survey that found that up to one third of heavy meat eaters were not aware of the harm created by eating meat. With what are now clearly increased health risks that include cancers such as bowel, liver, esophagus, and even lung cancer, the scientists say there is a need to create more awareness. Chief Executive Marilyn Gentry of the World Cancer Researh Fund said, “It is a concern if over two-thirds of people are not aware of the link because the evidence is very strong. This is why advice from experts is that the best amount of processed meat to eat is none at all.”

Thank you Chief Executive Gentry and World Cancer Research Fund for this revealing research as well as your stated concerns. We, too, pray that more and more make the connection of the harmful health impacts of meat and shift their lifestyles towards the beneficial plant-based diet.