Health Charity responds to Stern Report by saying Go Veggie
Leading health charity the Viva Health says cutting out just two cow-based meals a month could reduce your family’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30 per cent and improve your health. Viva Health’s health campaigner Dr Justine Butler says “The Stern report, published this week, concludes that if we do nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions we may face losing up to a fifth of the world’s wealth as a result of climate change. The report predicts that this could devastate the global economy on the scale of the Great Depression or the 20th century’s world wars“. Dr Butler says: “By going vegetarian or vegan, we can significantly reduce our own carbon footprint and improve our health“.
Dr Butler explains: “The hidden costs of eating meat and dairy foods are costing us the earth. An increased awareness of the effects of greenhouse gas emissions has led many of us to cut down on the amount of driving we do. Others choose not to fly in an effort to limit their personal contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Some people try to buy local produce to limit the “food miles’ travelled by their food. Reducing the amount of meat and dairy you eat can cut your family’s annual greenhouse gas emission by a third of a tonne. So by going vegetarian or vegan you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.” Dr Butler adds: “A single dairy cow produces around 400 litres of methane (a greenhouse gas) each day. Methane gas belched out by cows is responsible for around 25 per cent of the methane produced in the UK. This figure rises to 46 per cent in Scotland where there is a greater concentration of agriculture. Cutting out just two cow-based meals a month could reduce your family’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30 per cent.” “The environmental impact soya farming is having on the Amazonian rain forest has been cited as a contributing factor to global warming – but vegetarians eating soya is not the problem.”
Dr Butler explains “80 per cent of the world’s soya production is fed to livestock so that people can eat meat and dairy foods. Both the rain forests and our health would benefit tremendously if more people became vegetarians or vegans, even if they ate more soya. The environmental impact of animal farming is detrimental for other reasons too; livestock farming uses more fossil fuel than crops: a calorie of beef takes 33 per cent more fossil fuel to produce than a calorie of energy from potatoes. Do the planet – and yourself a favour and go vegan.”
For more information contact Dr Justine Butler at the VVF on 0117 970 5190 or email justine@vegetarian.org.uk Notes for editors – Viva Health is a charity established to monitor and interpret the increasing amount of scientific research linking diet to health. Viva Health communicates this information to the public, health professionals, schools and food manufacturers and provides accurate information on which to make informed choices. It is a vital – and almost solitary – source of accurate and unbiased information and advice on diet and health and is free from any commercial or vested interests.
About the author
Dr. Justine Butler
Justine joined Viva! in 2005 after graduating from Bristol University with a PhD in molecular biology. After working as a campaigner, then researcher and writer, she is now Viva!’s head of research and her work focuses on animals, the environment and health. Justine’s scientific training helps her research and write both in-depth scientific reports, such as White Lies and the Meat Report, as well as easy-to-read factsheets and myth-busting articles for consumer magazines and updates on the latest research. Justine also recently wrote the Vegan for the Planet guide for Viva!’s Vegan Now campaign.
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