The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) intensive animal husbandry reports that five percent of the world’s greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming are caused by raising meat for eating and transporting that meat from the supplier to the consumer’s accounts. by thirteen percent.
In real terms, almost a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases that explain global warming is due to meat production and that is more than all the private transportation in the world, both on airplanes and on roads; Vegetable production has nowhere near the impact on the environment.
For every kilo of chicken meat produced, you need between four and five kilos of grain, which means that each chicken your family eats could have eaten more than ten kilos of grain. Beef is three times the amount of grains. More than ninety percent of the world’s soybeans are grown for use as animal feed. The cruelty of eating meat is a terrible indictment against the meat industry, as it takes between five and fifteen pounds of plant protein per kilogram of meat. One sixth of an acre of land can feed a vegetarian for a year.
In the United States, the meat industry uses half of all the water consumed, that is, 5,000 gallons per kilo of beef, while wheat uses just over 50 gallons per kilo. To put it in real terms, that means something to everyone every time we eat a burger, we’ve eaten something that has taken 527 gallons to produce and that’s just for a single 150g burger.
Unfortunately, the European custom of consuming meat and dairy products has had an impact on the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Vast tracts of land on both sides of the Amazon basin are being used to grow soybeans for livestock feed or for cattle grazing. Carbon dioxide emissions from the production of a kilo of beef could power a car for 250 kilometers or 155 miles.
However, the western world used meat farming as a step in the development process and there are compelling arguments as to why the third world should be allowed to do so. However, there is a compelling case that meat should be more expensive. Our society reveres money and meat at a higher price would be revered and valued as a luxury product. In the United States, the current price of meat is extremely low when viewed from a historical perspective and also from the relative price in other countries. Cheap food impoverishes producers and farmers and, worse, makes unethical and ineffective methods of food production the norm. One of the challenges of the 21st century is to achieve more sustainable meat produced in humane conditions using sustainable environmental practices.
We don’t have to become vegetarians, but small cuts in the way we view meat and dairy would make a big difference if we restricted our meat consumption to 500g or one pound of meat a week, one liter of milk, and 100g or three. and a half ounce of cheese a week the world’s greenhouse gases would be reduced by a greater level than if we left our cars at home half the time. What is the price of a chop in global terms?
Italian food is simple, elegant and fabulous, making the most of the freshest ingredients. Italians don’t ask how much food it is, they ask how fresh it is. The concept of the weekly store is alien to them, their fruits and vegetables are bought every day. The great thing about Italian food is the fact that they have no such thing; Italy was an independent conglomerate of states until 1870.
Each area has its own kitchen and that kitchen has been forged by centuries of geography and history. For example, Northwest food has a closer relationship with Central European food because it was influenced by its neighbor, the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the south the flavors of the Mediterranean predominate, olive oils, fresh and dried fruits influenced by the Moors, tomatoes brought from the New World.