Opinions & Prejudices
This is my opinion as an Ecologist on whether our food habits, especially our Indian Food choices have a significant impact on Global Warming and Climate Change.
This has been prompted by a Twitter debate with @ahlade an author & a vegan by choice and believes in global vegetarianism. This is incidentally not the first debate I have had where I am told a Vegetarian diet would be good for the planet. The last such debate was with the insufferable @sankrant
Incidentally both have right wing leanings & are ardent fans of the present regime and dont like its criticism in any form. My tweet on the Allahabad High Court ordering the Uttar Pradesh State Govt to renew licenses for slaughterhouses prompted this short exchange with @ahlade
Ok, Lets Talk Science ...
First things first...
Lets look at our human teeth, we have molars, incisors and canines.
Did you say Canines? what are they for?
They are for eating meat, because evolution has made us this way, we are omnivores, we are not obligatory vegetarians or obligatory non vegetarians.
Evolution has not restricted us to a narrow dietary range like the Giant Panda who can live only on Bamboo Shoots, or the Antelope, or the Cow who have a different alimentary canal system to digest green plant matter.
And this is why today, we are the dominant species on this planet, and our actions & evolution as a technology enabled species makes us rule the planet.
Post industrial revolution our dependence on fossil fuels has only increased exponentially and today the Global PPM of CO2 is past the dreaded 400 PPM.
So what is the cause of this elevated levels of CO2 ; that was what @ahlade and me disagreed on .. but here is the data from EPA https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/global-greenhouse-gas-emissions-data
Agriculture and Forestry contribute to only 24% of the GHG emissions.. primarily its the Industry 21%, our Power Generation & Heating (this is the max contributor at 25%), Transportation (Road, Rail, Shipping 14%) = Totaling to a whopping 70% ..
Compare this to the Agriculture (including Livestock cultivation, farming, forestry etc) is only 24% but routinely takes the blame by vegetarian advocates who claim that eating meat causes Climate Change.
Typically vegetarian advocates cite half baked science and claim that eating meat is bad for the planet because livestock farming releases Methane,, this is true it does, but how much, 24% (which includes all land use practices and not just livestock)
Coming to the Indian Context..
However, when this 24% of guilt is applied by Indian Vegetarians , that is when it gets bizarre, bizarre because our meat consumption patterns are just not like that of the west.
But before I get into that, have a look at the Indian Contribution to Global Warming
A mere 7% of the global contribution.. !!
And we have the @sankrant s and the @ahlade s consistently throwing this argument at us, why?
Is it because they want us to turn into a Vegetarian Nation? Because they themselves are vegetarians and can afford to be vegetarians.
It is well known that India is a multi cuisine country, there are significant cultural differences in our eating habits from Kashmir to Kanyakumari (in Tamil Nadu) from Goa to Bengal and onwards to East and North East India..
Not a very accurate map of the varied food choices of peninsular India, but this will do for now..
Coming back to the argument, Is it not then myopic to impose your food choice on others? The Food one eats is a personal choice and should never be forced by any regime or ideology.
It is also well known that our Caste System has placed the Brahminical Ideology on a Pedestal and some of us still worship this ideology and look down upon who advocate meat eating.
But the fact is that Meat, especially Beef is a cheap source of protein for a majority of us Indians.
To be honest, even yours truly started eating beef during his student days, as he could only afford that in his minuscule student stipend from home.
Lets Talk about Indian Cows ..
We have the largest livestock in the world, yes that is true !!
We have 30.39% of the Global Livestock !!
Holy Cow! Did you say!
And what are they used for?
Obviously as Draught & Milch Cattle !
And what happens when they get old ! Should we let them off to fend for themselves as scavenging foragers!
Unfortunately, that has been happening ! Cattle Grazing has always exerted a tremendous pressure on our green cover and this is likely to increase as more and more farmers abandon their cattle instead of selling them to slaughter houses once they get old and don't yield as much.
Every part of cattle is used, the skin is used in the leather industry and the meat is sustenance for the poor masses for whom it is the cheapest protein source available. The hoofs are used for producing glue, while the bones are used for potash, the pancreas for insulin.
There are numerous livelihoods associated with Bovine industry and all these have gotten severely threatened by policies advocated by this Govt either directly or by silent condonation of the numerous lynchings which are taking place.
Bovine identity has sadly become a National Cause propagated by the Fringe who have in recent times gotten mainstream.
Since the time, I began working on this blog post, there has been a lynching at Jharkhand and in a crowded suburban train where daily commuters took out their rage on teens who could be identified as Muslims by their attire and facial hair.
There has been a #NotInMyName campaign which has a mass appeal and I feel we should just let people eat what they eat.
No Hindu Scripture prescribes that we give up meat or restricts us from eating Bovine meat. And I say this as a Beef Eating Hindu.
Often I come across analogies, that I should try Human meat or try eating my dog.. the analogy is so lame. I will of course have to consider it ass an option if I am faced with survival choices in war or a calamity. That's evolution for you.
Survival of the fittest.
Remember Cauliflower or for that matter most vegetables would not have remained in the evolutionary race if not for human consumption. So is the case with bovines, remember majority of Indians cant afford chicken or fish but beef is a cheap source of protein.
A healthy nation is a smart nation, lets not impose our food fascism on those who dont have food choices like us privileged class.
There are numerous livelihoods associated with Bovine industry and all these have gotten severely threatened by policies advocated by this Govt either directly or by silent condonation of the numerous lynchings which are taking place.
Bovine identity has sadly become a National Cause propagated by the Fringe who have in recent times gotten mainstream.
Since the time, I began working on this blog post, there has been a lynching at Jharkhand and in a crowded suburban train where daily commuters took out their rage on teens who could be identified as Muslims by their attire and facial hair.
There has been a #NotInMyName campaign which has a mass appeal and I feel we should just let people eat what they eat.
No Hindu Scripture prescribes that we give up meat or restricts us from eating Bovine meat. And I say this as a Beef Eating Hindu.
Often I come across analogies, that I should try Human meat or try eating my dog.. the analogy is so lame. I will of course have to consider it ass an option if I am faced with survival choices in war or a calamity. That's evolution for you.
Survival of the fittest.
Remember Cauliflower or for that matter most vegetables would not have remained in the evolutionary race if not for human consumption. So is the case with bovines, remember majority of Indians cant afford chicken or fish but beef is a cheap source of protein.
A healthy nation is a smart nation, lets not impose our food fascism on those who dont have food choices like us privileged class.
