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Germany's Environment Ministry Bans Meat at Official Functions

posted by takyon on Friday February 24 2017, @07:40AM   
from the not-in-America dept.

-- OriginalOwner_ writes:

Clearly Veg reports:

Barbara Hendricks, Germany's environment minister, has banned meat in all official functions and called for only vegetarian food to be served. The ban became clear through an email "to department heads from a senior civil servant in the environment ministry", according to The Telegraph . The e-mail noted that the ministry had a responsibility and should set an example to combat the "negative effects of meat consumption", with a statement by the ministry reading:

"We're not telling anyone what they should eat. But we want to set a good example for climate protection, because vegetarian food is more climate-friendly than meat and fish."

Unsurprisingly, the ban has caused a lot of controversy. Minister of food and agriculture Christian Schmidt, who has previously stated that he will push for a ban on "misleading" vegan labels such as vegan curry sausages, stated that he will not be having this "Veggie Day through the back door", and that "meat and fish are also part of a balanced diet".

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[Ed Note: This submission vandalized by cmn32480.]

Original Submission

• ''land usage impact'' (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 24 2017, @08:28PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 24 2017, @08:28PM (#471302)

  meat has a higher area land usage impact per calorie than vegetables

  Environmental impact seems to absolutely be the focus of the German Environment Ministry.

  To land use, add water use.
  How Water Intensive Food Choices Impact California’s Drought [ecology.com]

  As the record setting California drought continues [...] and 80% of the water used in California goes to agriculture [folks are] looking to cut [their] water use [via what they are eating].
  [...]
  To understand just how much water goes into producing common foods, the UNESCO Institute for Water Education (2011) took an in-depth look at average water use in food production--and found some astounding results. Meats were at the top of the list, because you have to account for the water the animals drink and also the water that goes into growing their feed. Beef was the most water intensive meat, requiring roughly 1,900 gallons of water per pound.
  [...]
  Vegetables--especially root vegetables--use the least amount of water to grow

  The guys also add the impact of livestock shit on groundwater.
  Worried About Water? Mind The Meat [eecosphere.com]

  Cows alone have polluted over 100,000 square miles [nrdc.org] of groundwater in California. I’ll let you guess how.

  ...and on top of that, add livestock farts which are a significant source of greenhouse gases.

  Long story short:

  A person on a vegan diet uses 600 fewer gallons of water per day than someone on the Standard American Diet.

  They also add

  Americans actually tend to eat way more protein than we need

  Their link to Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is paywalled and robots.txt blocks the Wayback Machine. 8-(

  If you eat a grain and a legume (e.g. rice and beans), you get all the amino acids that your body needs to build proteins.
  The only thing that you get by eating animal products that you don't get with a vegan diet is Vitamin B12.
  A once-a-day multi-vitamin pill or a B12 pill will give you that for a lot less than buying meat.
  Essentially zero impact on the environment as well.

  .
  Meat animals farmed on land that is not suitable for cultivation

  It now sounds like you're talking about goats.
  Do a lot of Soylentils eat goat meat??
  ...and humans have been doing terraced farming and soil enrichment for millenia.

  -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  Parent

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