Why stop meat? Why not an avocado?

There is an abundance of research about the negative environmental impacts of the livestock industry. The fossil fuel, land and water requirements are usually orders of magnitude greater than for fruits, vegetables and grains. For example, the production and post-production CO₂ emissions associated with lamb are 43.6 times greater than the emissions from lentils ^[1]. Furthermore, the total global emissions from the livestock industry account for 14.5% of the anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions ^[2].

Before I go blaming all of the effects of climate change on a leg of lamb, let me just stop and think about an avocado. Yes, an avocado.

Figure: Interest in avocado over the past 4 years (Google trends)
y-axis: interest relative to the highest point on the chart for the given region and time (e.g. a value of 50 implies half the popularity)

There has been a rise in popularity of avocados in the past couple of years. They have become a kind of health fashion statement. However, behind the veil of the amazing healthy benefits lies a dark truth. Most avocados are imported from tropical regions and their growth requires excessive amounts of water. So it is not surprising that a small 2-pack of avocados has a carbon footprint of 846.36 g CO₂. This is almost double that of one kilogramme of bananas ^[3].

Now I am not saying I am going to stop eating avocados completely (mainly because I love them too much), or that I am going to eat some more meat as an avocado guilt-based replacement. In fact, the CO₂ emissions for 1 kg of lamb are still 46 times higher than for a pack of avocados ^[3]. I just need to seriously widen the scope of my food sustainability challenge to take relative carbon footprints into account.

I think the next best move would be to cut back on my imported and high energy/water intensive fresh produce in addition to my reduced meat intake.

Stayed tuned for my next episode of the Vegetales!

[1] http://uk.businessinsider.com/the-top-10-foods-with-the-biggest-environmental-footprint-2015-9
[2] http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/197623/icode/
[3]  https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/revealed-the-enormous-carbon-footprint-linked-to-eating-avocado-a3591501.html

One vs many: How much of an impact am I really making?

I finally had my first physical contact with tofu that had seriously passed its expiration date. I don’t think I need to address that experience any further. It was not a pleasant experience, to say the least.

Moving on from vegetarian-inflicted grievances…

Last week in a lecture, a case study was discussed that sparked an interested debate regarding the impact of an individual making a change to live a more sustainable life. The case study was about a man who traveled to conferences to promote Cleaner Production and Sustainable Development. He was labelled a hypocrite for using air travel as his primary mode of transportation to all of his conferences. He tried, unsuccessfully, to defend his unnecessarily large carbon footprint.

The key question after hearing this: “Does he have more of an impact on sustainable development by simply not travelling by air and reducing his carbon footprint, or travelling to ensure his ideas are more far-reaching?”

Some argued that those who have gone to the extremes in the past have had great impacts on how society. The manner in which Mahatma Gandhi inspired civil rights movements internationally was used as an example of this. Opposing this idea, some made the case that recruiting more to jump on the sustainable ‘bandwagon’ by promoting slightly less drastic lifestyle changes is more effective. To put this simply, more people making small changes is more effective than an individual making a big change.

At the end of the day it was decided that this traveler could just use video conferencing to nullify the need to travel and still be able to spread his message. So the argument was slightly futile in this case.

But this discussion did bring up some related questions for my own lifestyle change. Is it really effective to cut meat out of my own diet completely as an individual in this vastly populated world? Or should I rather aim to encourage the masses to cut back on their meat intakes?

In the meanwhile, I will attempt both options and get some numbers to help me make a decision. I am an engineer after all.

Stayed tuned for my next episode of the Vegetales!

Why am I doing this again? Reason #1

In the spirit of 100% honesty, I will admit that I have had some serious meat cravings. A chicken kebab, a beef hamburger, a plate of lamb chops… anything. I realised I need to find more meaningful reasons for this change if I am going to make it last.

Let the (more in depth) research begin!

With a simple Google search for the ‘benefits of vegetarianism’, I read through many articles stating the health and ethical benefits with an occasional hint of environmental concern. Some of the health benefits noted by Christian Nordqvist (2017) include lower body weight, healthier cholesterol levels and lower risk of cancer development (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/8749.php). This is all obviously entirely dependent on what food groups and quantities your diet consists of.

The following statement in the same article raised a few flags for me:

“Producing vegetarian food is more ecologically sustainable, and it reduces damage to the environment.”

(Nordqvist, 2017)

As a general statement, a lot of the research tends to show that meat-based diets do require larger quantities of non-renewable energy and water resources, and more land than vegetarian diets (http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/3/660S). But surely where the consumable are sourced and how they are grown impact sustainability. Right?

“But what about all those fruit, vegetable and staples crossing the globe — can we really label them as more sustainable than eating meat?”

(http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/06/health/vegetarian-diet-conversation/index.html).

As a counter argument to cutting meat out of your diet, some argue that it is the emissions associated with importing and exporting all food products that should be the greatest concern and not only meat products.

Wayne Martindale (2017) claims that it is difficult to decide whether eating a meat-free diet is any better for the environment. This is due to potential trade-offs in carbon footprints. For example: eating a meat product sourced locally may be less environmentally harmful than eating an avocado grown thousands of miles away in Mexico. He goes on to recommend that the most sustainable way forward is to:

• reduce food wastage,
• purchase locally grown products,
• create an awareness of the supply chains of major products used, and
• eat foods that are less damaging and promote more sustainable agricultural practices.

So maybe these articles gave more food for thought (excuse the pun) than definite clarity, but I guess this is why it is called a personal change challenge.

Remember, making big lifestyle changes should be considered a marathon and not a sprint.

Stay tuned for more potential clarity in the next episode of Vegetales!

Challenges (so far)

So one week of the vegetarian lifestyle completed and I am still going strong.

Well, there is some emergency spaghetti bolognese that I made 1 week ago in my freezer just waiting to be eaten.

And fish or not to fish?

I have been juggling with pescatarianism and vegetarianism throughout the week. Part of my rationale behind eating fish is my adversity towards sudden and drastic changes. Any time I have tried to quit something ‘cold turkey’, the success rate has been miserable. So I have been easing out of conventional high protein sources by still eating fish occasionally. I also have read several articles stating that a vegetarian diet can be provide health benefits, however it depends on the specific foods one eats (https://draxe.com/vegetarian-diet/ ). Some vegetarians need to take supplements containing omega-3 acids to maintain a healthy balance (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/chloe-spencer/pescetarianism_b_956965.html ).

One of the biggest challenges of all has been figuring out what to cook. Thank goodness I have several housemates who have been vegetarians for a while. So far I have been introduced to the wonderful world of lentils, beans, chickpeas, tofu and more tofu. I have basically been cooking the same meals I would usually cook while replacing the meat with alternatives.

Although I have been experiencing some seriously tasty meatless foods, I have still noticed some of the stigmas associated with vegetarian options. I went to a formal dinner two nights ago and while I was pleasantly surprised by the starters and dessert (as I have been by most vegetarian meals so far), I was pretty underwhelmed by the main course. So were my meat-eating friends surrounding me. Some boiled winter vegetables compared to a chunk of well-seasoned poultry was not a great example to be used as a conversation starter for cutting back on meat intakes. I may want to have a word with the catering crew about bringing some razzle-dazzle into the vegetarian options.

I know that when my meat withdrawal symptoms start to appear in the (hopefully distant) future, I am going to need to keep my inspiration light shining bright. Next week I will speak to this very point: deeper research and reasons for this diet and lifestyle change.

Stayed tuned for my next episode of the Vegetales!

Change Challenge Accepted!

As a postgraduate student at Cambridge University, I have been given an exciting opportunity to make a positive and sustainable change in my life and hopefully in others’ too.

Figuring out what to change proved to be rather daunting, but every time I tried to ‘think big’, I felt overwhelmed. I am unfortunately a pretty risk averse person, so I generally take on challenges that I feel have a high probability of a successful outcome. Perhaps this is a trait I could change too?

Additionally, most of the ‘big’ challenges have been tackled in my college. Recycling systems are set up in most houses, and ‘keep cups’ (reusable cups) and composting are already practiced.

I wanted to make my change challenge as personal as possible while making a hopefully significant impact on my health, my social surroundings and the environment. So this is my opportunity to give it a try. Start small and personal and work towards influencing others and their opinions on a topic of sustainability using my experiences and research as a basis for discussion.

Choosing a personal change challenge proved challenging. Ironic isn’t it?

After attending several lectures covering a range of topics, Management of Technology, Present & Future Energy Systems, and Driving Change Towards Sustainability, a common train of thought was provoked in each class: “How much energy and how many resources are needed to breed livestock for our omnivorous lifestyles? So avoiding meat potentially has a greater impact on energy and resource usage than turning a light off or avoiding the use of central heating?” These were the explosive questions that initiated my journey towards vegetarianism.

As a South African, I have always been a proud carnivore and never really given any thought to becoming a vegetarian for several pseudo-valid reasons:

• The exciting food options are few and far between,
• It feels like taking up an expensive sport when trying to buy ‘green’, and
• It is part of our national culture to be meat-eaters.

But now that I am in Cambridge and vegetarian meal options appear to be more affordable and accessible, I feel ready to make this change.

The research begins now along with the challenges and enthusiasm.

Stay tuned for my next episode of the Vegetales!