World Food Day - 16th October
On 16th October the world will celebrate World Food Day, organised by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This year's theme is World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy.
In their leaflet, the FAO admits:
'Agriculture is not only the victim of climate change, it is also a source of greenhouse gases. Crop production and livestock release greenhouse gases into the air and are responsible for an important part of the emissions of methane (from cattle and wetlands, especially rice paddies) and nitrous oxide (from fertilizer use). Changes in land use such as deforestation and soil degradation – two devastating effects of unsustainable farming practices – emit large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.'
Unfortunately, FAO's solutions to address this major issue do not go far enough. The leaflet goes on to say:
'Agriculture should contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions through such measures as reduction of deforestation, improved forest conservation and management, better control of wildfires, agro-forestry for food or energy, soil carbon sequestration, restoring land through controlled grazing, improving nutrition for ruminant livestock like cattle, more efficient management of livestock waste including biogas recovery, and other strategies that conserve soil and water resources by improving their quality, availability and efficiency of use.'
Animals Count believes that the most effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to reduce the consumption of meat and dairy products, and increase the consumption of plant-based foods. Even the UK's Environment Agency has acknowledged that by adopting a vegan diet we could make a major contribution to slowing down climate change (Daily Mail, 29 May 2007).
Vegmonth well underway
Vegmonth, or World Vegetarian/Vegan Month started on the 1st of October and will run until the 1st of November. It aims to raise awareness about the advantages of vegetarianism, and the related issues of animal protection, the link with the environment and human health.
Food production and consumption are highly politicised issues; post second-world war the agricultural emphasis, financially aided by the Marshall plan, was on intensifying production, decreasing margins and stimulating a consumption society, in order to avoid ever having food shortages again. The effects on animals (intensive farming), the environment (pollution), and human health (affluence-related diseases such as obesity, heart disease and cancer) are well established. For further information about nutrition and the critique of the food industry, see 'The Vegetarian Movement in England 1847-1981: A Study in the Structure of its Ideology'.
13 October, 2008 
Kick the meat habit
Today is World Environment Day and poet Benjamin Zephaniah argues that the best action people can take for the planet is to kick the meat habit. FAO report 'Livestock's Long Shadow' showed that the livestock industry accounts for 18% of all global warming gases. Governments should start taking real action by cutting down on the livestock industry and promoting plant-based diets, believes Animals Count.
5 June, 2008