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Britain could go back to rationing
Last updated at 09:03am on 30.01.07
Cutting out meat could go a long way towards stabilising climate change, Ben Bradshaw has argued
Britain may need to go back to Second World War-style rationing if climate change runs out of control, environment minister Ben Bradshaw has warned.
Mr Bradshaw pointed out that food production did just as much damage as private transport and housing.
He spoke out as a new government website advised shoppers to help the planet by avoiding meat, cheese and even British veg grown out of season.
The www.direct.gov.uk/greenerfood website makes clear that eating beef, lamb, chicken and dairy products contributes to global warming because of the energy and land needed to rear animals. Sheep and cows also emit harmful methane gas.
Mr Bradshaw told a meeting of food experts that the public would not currently tolerate a "nanny state" approach to what they ate. But he warned: "If the impacts of climate change are as bad as predicted, we may need to go back to rationing."
The website says that meat and cheese are among the worst for warming the planet, "because of the way they are produced, packaged, transported or cooked". Although transport and housing get all the blame for heating up the planet, food production and preparation do just as much damage, accounting for 25 per cent of global warming. Flying accounts for just two per cent.
Mr Bradshaw said the Government was considering a labelling scheme for all food products, based on the "farm to fork" impact each item has on the environment.
Mr Bradshaw also warned that green groups should not use "food miles" — the distance a product has travelled to get from farm to plate — to avoid products flown in from the world's poorest countries. He hit out at last week's move by the Soil Association to bar all air-freighted foods from getting its organic certificates.
"The public want to do their bit to help the environment but there are so many confused and confusing messages, particularly on the issue of food miles," he said.
"Flying in food from abroad accounts for a tiny proportion of the overall carbon emissions of the food industry, around three per cent. But around 13 per cent of emissions come from motorists travelling to and from the shops to buy food.
Reader views (9)
Good news.
I hope China will also advocate this way of life "More vegetable and less meat and milk product". By so doing, people will become more healthy and the climate will become better. Also animals will live happier than now and the poor will not be so hungry.
- Helen Geng, Shanghai, China
Great news. By eating plants, the overall environment will be improved and more animals will live happily. And I believe natural disaster and catastrophe will be considerably reduced.
- Helen Geng, Shanghai, China
Amazing! A government minister who actually understands the problem. Interesting what he says about travelling by car to the shops. I wonder what the government have planned regarding getting people back to the high street and away from out of town supermarkets and shopping centres.
- Nick Upton, UK
This is great news. I am wandering if the goverment has also in mind to help out other european countries and the world in general since this is an issue that concerne to all humans. We all can make difference and help out the environemt but if we are separated we cannot succed.
- Gerardo Tristan, Mexico
Great! The truth serum we slipped into Ben Bradshaw's organic cup of tea last week obviously worked!
Today the Department of the Environment - Tommorrow The World!
Viva la Vegan Pirates!
- Vegan Pirates, London UK
Brilliant to see the government finally affirmative taking action on environmental protection and animal suffering. Meat, milk and egg production, partly because of the conversion of plant-based to animal protein, is an extremely inefficient means of food production. It is difficult to justify ethically in a world where so many people go hungry. As Mr Bradshaw correctly states, the greenhouse gas contributions of animal based livestock also contribute substantially to global warming. Finally, the animal suffering inherent in livestock farming, particularly intensive farming, is the greatest cause of suffering worldwide today. An 'environmental impact' food labelling system would make a big difference by allowing the increasing proportion of ethical consumers not to purchase products with the severe environmental impacts incurred by many animal based agricultural food products. Great to see the government taking affirmative action to protect the environment, animals, and increase consumer choice! Well done!
- Andrew Knight Bsc., Bvms, Certaw, Mrcvs, London, UK
Well that can only be better for the nation's health.
- Peter, London
Next they'll try to ban beers, ales and lagers because of the heat and CO2 produced during fermentation.
If man is the so guilty of this sin of causing global warming, why not ration the number of births?
- Graham, Reading, England
The inmates are in charge of the asylumn.
- Frank, Wolverhamptn, England
