What if the World went Vegan?
Vegetarianism and
Veganism have been discussed in our class a minimal amount in terms of global
health; however, rising popularity of this lifestyle in North America has
flourished with numerous research studies and documentaries on its impact on
health (i.e.: Before the Flood) and its relation to climate change (also a topic
of concern on how it too can impact the global health environment). Recently, I
came across an article hypothesising the effects of a scenario in which the world
went vegan.
Researchers at the
University of Oxford used a data set from the UN Food and Agriculture Association
and WHO and compared the effects across global health.
Fact:
ü Greenhouse gas emissions would
fall by 50% by 2050
ü Health costs due to the
decrease in noncommunicable diseases world wide per year= $735 billion US (following
international guidelines of a healthy diet), $973 billion (vegetarian diet), $1
trillion (vegan diet)
ü Decrease in deaths= 5.1
million (healthy diet), 7.3 million (vegetarian), 8.1 million (vegan)
ü 75% of these benefits occurring in developing
countries
Developing countries
are in deed where many of the global health concerns we have discussed are
present and a lot of these benefits would be seen there. Many pro meat consumption
arguments include the livestock’s capacity to generate business for small and
local farmers, being a way of life, health benefits, as well as the cultural
symbolism that meat consumption is often associated with. However, these
concerns have supporting counterarguments mentioned above including the health benefits.
It is also interesting to note that “the
world’s agricultural system would need to produce 25% more fruits and vegetables,
and 56% less red meat” (DeWeerdt, 2016). This production can be shifted towards local farmers who would
otherwise be farming for meat consumption with strategic processes in place to identify
which crops can be best grown in certain countries due to their climate.
I certainly am not suggesting
everyone goes vegan, simply considering the alternative of even reducing meat
consumption to the international dietary standards would be a desirable change.
Presenting the evidence in this light that is supported by data is worthy of
consideration. Perhaps efforts should be weighed more heavily on adopting a global lens towards diet and food
consumption (including increased donor funding towards planning and
implementation) that a significant impact on many global health concerns we
have today will be addressed.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this as I know many of you do consume meat and animal products and are public health professionals!
Reference
DeWeerdt (2016). What if the Whole
World Went Vegan? Conservation. University
of Washington. http://conservationmagazine.org/2016/03/can-vegans-really-save-planet/
Amy, I find this speculation by the University of Oxford to be very interesting, but I have to wonder what they thought would come of this research. Some statistics to show off hoping to convert people to this lifestyle, or at least cut down meat consumption? It seems that the popularity of veganism is a Western concept. And it is particularly in the developing or transition countries that meat consumption carries cultural value and represents desirable status (simply because it is already very accessible for much of the developed world -- our fast food industry makes hamburgers available at all price points). In World Food Problems (I think Erin may have brought this up in the past as well), we talked about how economic transition in China has grown the middle class, and with it consumption of meat and dairy is on the rise; these foods used to be economically out of reach for people but as wealth and SES improved, this middle class wants to enjoy what they see as a luxury item. Who are we to say that they should not be able to do so, especially given our own history of doing just that? If anything, countries like the United States could attempt to lead this change by example: due to globalization, our practices tend to set global trends, so the popularization of limited meat/dairy consumption could start with us. But unfortunately to that all I can say at this point is... good luck! At this point all we can do is create awareness, but I don't see great change in this coming anytime soon, and I believe that environmental efforts at this point should focus more on energy consumption and waste reduction, which are much easier to popularize with the general public.
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