> Sasha wrote:
>
> If someone wants a reference for the stats, I can supply it. I guess I have a
> problem with the guy saying that people are starving somewhere; feed grains are
> being grown in starving countries & shipped to rich countries & meat eating is
> the cause of starvation. People may be starving in Africa or S America, but I
> think its because they either don't have jobs so they can't pay for commercial
> food, or don't have access to land to be able to produce their own food
I don't know, maybe this a war of the stats? I am not generating these, just
passing them on. According to John Robbins (and I have read elsewhere that our
grain reserves are down to nil, something I personally find hard to believe), we
have not had very good crops in the last couple of years and we do not have the
grain reserves that people think we do. According to me (having lived in Japan for a
few years) and others, meat consumption in Japan specifically and Asia in general
has risen dramatically over the last fifteen years or so. As for South America,
somebody is buying the grains that are being fed to animals and I do believe that
we, among others, are buying the meat that is now being raised on what was once
rain forest. Certainly the land is not being used to feed the impoverished South
Americans. I don't think the issue is who is buying the meat as much as the fact
that it is being bought.
Who knows? I haven't been there but some things are obvious and some things "ring
true", at least to me. We produce and take in a tremendous amount of animal
protein. Most of this production seems to have negative consequences for a whole
lot of people. Not counting grass fed cattle and feed animals that make use of
otherwise non-productive land, feeding cattle makes less food potentially available
to feed people--the conversion is what 16 pounds of feed/1 lb of person if that feed
goes through a cow first?. In the U.S., we could, I believe, feed everyone well and
still produce nearly as much meat as we do although there would still be negative
environmental and health consequences given the amount of meat we consume and the
manner in which we raise cattle. However, In countries were severe hunger,
bordering on starvation, occurs, land that is used to produce animal feed, whether
the feed is exported or the meat is exported, is a significant factor in causing
that hunger. Of course, the production of so called "cash crops" is also a factor
as well as the political systems that let people starve, not to mention wars and the
odd drought.
I suppose the mistake lies in focusing solely on one aspect of a problem. But it is
difficult not to, given that most people gain their expertise in one field.
Certainly John Robbins lays a lot of the world's misery at those cloven hoofed feet,
maybe more than is justified, but there has to be some goal that is being met by
cutting down rain forest and confiscating the land of small land holders.
Sasha
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