Meat and biofuel cited in current food crisis. 

The panel of experts on SA-FM’s After Eight Debate, a South African broadcast program, concluded that the current global food crisis has resulted from two main causes: biofuel and meat consumption. Crops grown for biofuel supplant areas previously used for food, which creates shortages. Also, the increased consumption of meat in countries such as China and India has produced a rise in demand for grain to feed the animals, which in turn increases the price.

Our thanks for your findings, South African summit attendees. May we all more carefully consider the environmental cost of our actions and so that grain supplies are more available to those who need them most. 

Reducing meat consumption saves money and helps the planet.
 
An article published Thursday by international news agency Reuters cited such sources as the 2006 United Nations report, Worldwatch Institute, and the medical journal Lancet, to highlight the benefit of reduced or zero meat intake in curbing climate change. The article also highlighted the global economic gain of a plant-based diet, saying that the demand for meat pushes worldwide grain prices higher. A website from Small Planet Institute founder Anna Lappé is also provided. TakeaBite.cc offers further information about the relationship between food and global warming.

Our gratitude, Reuters and all researchers, for this valuable information that help us better understand how our food choices affect the entire planet. May we all take immediate steps toward a vegetarian (vegan) diet to relieve the global economy and our Mother Earth.