21 September 2009

Another reason for keeping the fasts of the Church

Fasting is supposed to be good for the soul, but according to Nouslife, it can benefit the environment too.

Nouslife: Eat more plants - environment will like it:
Every so often I post stuff like this and I'll continue to do so because the research keeps coming in and the arguments still stack up: if we're serious about our environmental footprints, then we should reduce or remove meat in our diet. This time it's from the New Scientist: 'Livestock are responsible for nearly a fifth of all greenhouse emissions, from the methane produced by their guts and manure, to nitrous oxide emissions from the fertilisers used to grow feed for them. Because it takes several kilograms of plant matter to grow a kilogram of meat, producing meat and animal products such as cheese usually greatly multiplies the environmental damage done by farming. The huge amounts of land required are driving the destruction of rainforests, for instance. Even small reductions in consumption, such as making Mondays meat-free, could make a big difference.'

I don't know about Mondays as well, but just the normal Wednesdays and Fridays might do -- keeping those meat and dairy free, as well as the fasting seasons, like the pre-Christmas and Lenten fasts. It could give a whole new meaning to Easter eggs.

Oh yes, and in the feasting seasons, when you do eat meat, try to avoid restaurants that advertise that their meat is "grain-fed". Grass-fed is healthier, both for you and the planet.

3 comments:

Cobus said...

In our community, where I live, we try and do one day a week meat-free for ecological reasons. Some of us have been aware of this research for a long time (although my gutt feel is that the figures are exaggerated, the amount of meat we eat is definitely not sustainable), so it was one of the things we said when we started. Furthermore we try to cut meat consumption generally, simply eating less meat when we do eat meat.

We try to:
Eat meat only once a day.
Eat 100g per person on average.
Have one meatless day per week.

Strangely enough, the most difficult part was simply figuring out what to eat when you don't eat meat.

James Higham said...

I don't eat a lot on Sunday - it just happens that way.

Mark (under construction) said...

One day a week without meat is a good thing ... the amout of water to produce a kilo of meat compared to a kilo of wheat is amazing.

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