CANOPY MAGAZINE FALL 2012
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nitrogen-soaked world. Meat Free Mondays The link between personal dietary choices and the health of the planet started with the ground-breaking 1970s book, Diet for a Small Planet, and now Sir Paul McCartney’s Meat Free Mondays organization has given it new life. We needn’t all become vegetarians, the organization argues, but reducing our meat consumption even just once per week would reduce pollution from livestock operations, which affects water quality, air quality, and climate change. McCartney’s web site features papers published by WHRC, demonstrating that science not only influences governmental policy, but also grass roots movements.
N pollution. In contrast, current efforts to prevent and reduce N pollution in the Chesapeake Bay ranges from $8 - $15 per kilogram, demonstrating that prevention costs are often far less than the costs of pollution. We can all make a contribution to improving the health of the planet and our own personal health by managing meat portions and how often we eat meat. Diets with too much red meat not only may pose increased risks of colon cancer, but large demand for meat also increases N pollution from livestock operations. Avoiding “too much of a good thing” applies to all aspects of the N cycle, from fertilizers on the farm to consumption at the dining table.
Learn more about solutions to the excess nitrogen problem while maintaining productive agriculture from recent WHRC publications: An overview presented at the 2012 Rio+20 meeting: http://goo.gl/Jw9nP An integrative report on excess N in the USA: http://goo.gl/yJo9A A new report on interactions of climate change and excess nitrogen in the environment: http://goo.gl/NcKBk
Reducing nitrogen pollution would help slow impending climate impacts and would reduce other risks to human health and ecosystem health.
According to WHRC President Eric Davidson, “Governments could sign on to an international treaty to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but they haven’t. That means that we citizens must lead the way by showing how our carbon and nitrogen footprints can be reduced by being cognizant of our personal choices. Managing your meat portions, the kind of meat that you eat, and how often you eat meat, are the most important choices that you can make to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. Eating less meat than the average person from a developed country is good both for the planet’s health and for your personal health.” Dr. Davidson’s complete statement of support can be found on the MFM website: http://www. meatfreemondays.com/supporters.