Eat less meat to save planet, researchers warn

Last week I attended the Arable Conference at Cereals 2012 and this week I popped along to the Lincolnshire Show. The discussion at each of these events centred around the challenge of feeding everybody. For example: Should we be prioritising food production over the environment? Do we have the scientific and economic means to increase UK crop output?

And is farming attracting enough new entrants? The University of Exeter has drawn up a series of models looking at how changes in our diet could impact on farming. In big picture terms, the research team suggest that we need to eat less meat (particularly beef) recycle more waste and devote more farmland to crops.

Lead researcher Tom Powell said: “Meat production involves significant energy losses: only around four per cent of crops grown for livestock turn into meat. By focusing on making agriculture more efficient and encouraging people to reduce the amount of meat they eat, we could keep global temperatures within the two degrees threshold.”

The research highlights the increasing and often conflicting demands placed on land as a resource. And land itself is a finite resource which as Mark Twain reminds us – they’re not making anymore!