What an awesome 16 pages: Eating Up The World from Vegetarian Network Victoria. Download it in PDF file and Aussies should send the link on to all their buddies too. It’s geared towards Australians however it’s great info for everyone.
Here’s the conclusion from the last page, for more detail read the PDF booklet.
The Bottom Line
If we want to preserve and restore our environment in
Australia, we must make changes to our diet. The food we
eat has a major effect on our waterways, the quality of the
air we breathe and on the environment around us.
Eating fish and other sea life is killing our oceans, agricultural
industries are polluting our waterways, and vast areas of land are
wasted with the grazing of animals. These practices are
unsustainable and the global impacts are being felt more than ever
before.
By adopting a vegetarian diet you can make a significant contribution
towards improving your health as well as that of the planet.
The significant environmental benefits that can be made by adopting
a vegetarian diet include:
• enabling fresh water to be redirected to more efficient uses and
to restoring healthier river flows and aquatic habitats
• allowing the rehabilitation of grazing land into bushland which
would greatly reduce land degradation and the loss of Australia’s
biodiversity
• reducing the drivers for climate change, including carbon dioxide
and methane, and increasing the capture and storage of gases by
the environment
• reducing oil consumption and dependence on foreign sources of
energy and materials
• enabling our oceans to revert back to the vibrant ecosystems
that they once were and allowing fish populations to recover to
normal levels.
Animal industries are eating up the world.
It is up to us to save it!
All very important, urgent and true. Thanks VNV.
More background info on the report from VNV:
‘EATING UP THE WORLD’ OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED!
At this year’s Sustainable Living Festival, VNV launched its new booklet highlighting the effects of animal products on the planet.
Copies of the booklet were distributed at the festival which was held from 20-22 February 2009 at Federation Square in Melbourne.
The 16 page report, titled ‘Eating up the World: the Environmental Consequences of Human Food Choices’, raises issues of land exhaustion, air pollution, and ocean depletion among others such as species extinction, water, energy and materials expenditure, and the social impacts – all stemming from human dietary choices.
VNV President Mark Doneddu said, “Never before in our history have we been faced with so many environmental problems as right now.
“The simplest way for us to address this is to switch to a plant-based diet,” Mr Doneddu said.
The report contains facts and statistics from leading research bodies including the CSIRO, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
VNV held an information stall all three days of the festival where visitors learned more about the environmental report and the organisation’s other initiatives.
The launch of Eating up the World officially took place at the stall on 20 February at 5pm.
The booklet is now available online (2.5MB PDF). Printed copies are available from the VNV Office (please email us at info@vnv.org.au).
THANK-YOU VOICELESS!
In December 2007 VNV was awarded a major grant from Voiceless, the fund for animals, to assist in research and production of ‘Eating up the World’. Voiceless offers financial support to non-profit organisations for the design and implementation of projects which improve the lives of animals in Australia.
The award was presented by Brian Sherman AM (Voiceless Co-founder and Director) and actor Hugo Weaving (Ambassador for Voiceless). Rebecca Irvine, a representative from the VNV Team, went to Sydney to receive the award on VNV’s behalf. The award presentations were held on 3 December 2007 at the Sydney Opera House flagship restaurant ‘Guillaume at Bennelong’. When asked about the awards event Ms Irvine said “It was really fantastic to see so many not-for-profit organisations of a like minded nature receiving awards, all for really fantastic animal related causes. Each organisation was so deserving. It just goes to show that all their hard work is being recognised and supported and how much great work can be done with the grants mechanism provided by Voiceless”.
We sincerely thank Voiceless for their very generous support.
