Sir Paul McCartney Calls for MEAT FREE MONDAY to Help Slow Climate Change
Mary and Stella, is launching a new food campaign – MEAT FREE MONDAY – on
Monday 15th June which encourages people to help slow climate change by
having one meat free day a week.
The campaign has already gathered an impressive list of supporters from
the worlds of entertainment, politics and the environmental sciences
including
In addition, several of the UK’s most renowned chefs are supporting the
campaign.
Ottolenghi
recipes for the Meat Free Monday website, which the whole family can enjoy.
Restaurateurs such as
dishes on the menus of their restaurants.
Most people understand that our food choices can influence our own
health, for good or for bad, but increasing amounts of scientific information
published over the last few years have shown that our food choices are also
linked to the health of the wider environment.
For instance, the UK’s Food Climate Research Network estimate that food
production is responsible for between 20-30 per cent of global greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions and that livestock are responsible for around half of these.
Livestock production releases gases such as methane and nitrous oxide into
the atmosphere and have a much more powerful climate changing effect than CO2.
According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization,
livestock production is responsible for more climate-changing GHG emissions
globally than transportation – up to 18 per cent of emissions as opposed to
13 percent for transport.
Environmental group Greenpeace estimates that every kg of beef we eat
represents roughly the same GHG emissions as flying 100km and the group,
Compassion in World Farming, estimate that if the average UK household halved
its consumption of meat, this would cut more emissions than if they cut their
car use in half. Last year Dr
of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (the group of scientists
that produces much of the global climate change data that we read daily in
the newspapers) stated that “. . . [The] IPCC found that changes in lifestyle
and behaviour patterns can contribute to climate change mitigation across all
sectors. One area where individuals can make a difference in this regard is
by altering their diets through consuming less meat, say by giving up meat at
least one day a week. Reducing meat consumption in this manner will make
individuals healthier as well as the planet.”
Having a MEAT FREE MONDAY every week is a simple way to start making a
real difference in the world. The more people who join in, the more
difference we can make.
“I think many of us feel helpless in the face of environmental
challenges, and it can be hard to know how to sort through the advice about
what we can do to make a meaningful contribution to a cleaner, more
sustainable, healthier world. Having one designated meat free day a week is
actually a meaningful change that everyone can make, that goes to the heart
of several important political, environmental and ethical issues all at once.
For instance it not only addresses pollution, but better health, the ethical
treatment of animals, global hunger and community and political activism.”
Sir
Notes to Editors
The MEAT FREE MONDAY campaign will be officially launched on Monday
June 2009
The campaign is supported by Linda McCartney Foods and has a dedicated
website www.supportMFM.org. The Meat Free Monday website will feature useful
tips and recipes from Linda McCartney’s cookbooks as well as the UK’s leading
chefs. It will also provide a community of support and information for those
who want to know more about the way diet choices can influence a healthier
environment.
Useful Information
Over the last few years scientific data on livestock’s contribution to
climate change has been increasing. The following reports can provide useful
information:
Livestock's Long Shadow - Environmental Issues and Options
Food And Agriculture Organization of The United Nations
Rome, 2006
http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM
Amazon Cattle Footprint
Greenpeace International 2009
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/amazon-cattle-
footprint-mato
Global warning: climate change and farm animal welfare
Compassion in World Farming 2008
http://www.ciwf.org.uk/resources/publications/environment_sustainability/
default.aspx
The World on a Plate: Food and its Contribution to Climate Changing
Emissions
Tara Garnett
Food Climate Research Network
September 2008
http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/features/article/the_world_on_a_
plate_food_and_its_contribution_to_climate_changing_emission
Changing Food Consumption in the UK to Benefit People and Planet
Oxfam, 2009
http://publications.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam/display.asp?K=e20090407122948
64&TAG=&CID=oxfam
The vital statistics of meat
Simon Fairlie
Ecologist magazine, October 2008
http://www.theecologist.org
Not all meat is created equal
Richard Young
Ecologist magazine, October 2008
http://www.theecologist.org
(Due to the length of the above URLs, it may be necessary to copy and
paste them into your Internet browser’s URL address field. Remove the space
if one exists.)
The complete Linda McCartney range can be found on the brand new Linda
McCartney Foods website. http://www.lindamccartneyfoods.co.uk
The Hain Celestial Group, owners of the Linda McCartney range, is the
largest natural and organic food company in the world, and was named the
Greenest Company in the UK food and drink industry (according to The Sunday
Times Green List published on
manufactures, markets, distributes and sells natural and organic food
products. The company’s UK headquarters are in
Fakenham,
http://www.hain-celestial.co.uk
SOURCE MEAT FREE MONDAY