South Korean government research calls for efficient use of farmland. A recent report by the Rural Development Administration of South Korea calculated the number of people who could receive a full daily 3,000 kilocalorie intake of food energy from crops grown on one hectare of land.

The study found that rice and other plant crops yielded much more direct food energy than converting corn crops for animal feed into meat. With arable land decreasing each year, the report suggested that the best way to protect South Korea from a food crisis would be to favor plant farming over raising livestock. 

Lee Duk-Bae – Chief of Task Force for Climate Change Response, Rural Development Administration, South Korea (M): According to the recent survey from the Rural Development Administration, one hectare of sweet potatoes can feed 26 people and one hectare of rice can feed 20 people, while the equivalent of pork can feed only 1.3 and beef 0.3 people per hectare. That’s because pigs and cows consume a lot more grain to produce only a small amount of meat.

VOICE: At the recent Climate Change Policy Symposium held for the first time in the South Korean National Assembly, a large group of Parliament members united to plan for urgent action to halt global warming.

Lee Kyung-Jae – Congressman and Chair of Environmental Policy Research Committee for Sustainable Development, South Korea (M): Now the effort to protect the environment is also a matter of humanity’s survival.

VOICE: As for the food crisis, climate change can also be addressed largely through a shift in agriculture away from inefficient animal products and toward grains and vegetables for human consumption.

Lee Duk-Bae (M): Vegetarians have a point there, and so as much as possible, our diet should be based on grains produced in a natural state. Maintaining such a lifestyle is a healthy consumer behavior that helps to stop global warming. Be Vegetarian, Go Green, and Save Our Planet!

VOICE: Our respectful accolades, South Korean National Assembly members, for your responsible actions and willingness to adopt policies that help preserve our fragile planet. May agricultural countries such as yours reap the benefits of producing foods that are good for the Earth’s survival and our own.