20140901_R4
Source: BBC Radio 4: Today Programme
URL: N/A
Date: 01/09/2014
Event: More than a small portion of poultry a day will cause "a threat to the planet"
Attribution: BBC Radio 4
People:
- Bojana Bajzeli: Research associate, University of Cambridge
- Mishal Husain: Presenter, BBC Radio 4 Today Programme
Mishal Husain : Our consumption of meat is a threat to the planet. A report from researchers in Cambridge and Aberdeen says that if global demand for meat continues on its present course, greenhouse gas emissions from food production will rocket. Bojana Bajzeli is the lead researcher from Cambridge University - good morning.
Bojana Bajzeli : Good morning.
Mishal Husain: Your report paints a pretty alarming picture of what the world will look like, by 2050. Just explain what you're projecting.
Bojana Bajzeli: That's right. Well, we looked at a study that - our study looked at, let's say, business as usual progress in agriculture, so that yields increase at current trends, and that our demand for different types of food also increases at current trends. And yes, that - because yields don't quite match up with the demand, that means that we will need to expand area of cropland and pasture land.
Mishal Husain: And that means taking over areas that are now forest, and converting them for cattle production.
Bojana Bajzeli: Exa- well, for cattle or other food - food stocks, but it means, more importantly, that the deforestation process causes extra greenhouse gas emissions.
Mishal Husain: And you recommend that we make significant changes to our diet, eating less meat. The problem will be that if everyone in the UK followed your recommendations, though, they would still be massive demand from elsewhere in the world, so -
Bojana Bajzeli: Well, of course.
Mishal Husain: - how much can individual choice actually make?
Bojana Bajzeli: I think, you know, each - every individual in the world adds up. Obviously, you know, UK is just a small part, and there are other parts, but well, we maybe should see ourselves as, you know, some sort of standard that other people aspire to. And that's kind of a problem, the per capita meat consumption in US and in Western Europe is quite high, and now we're seeing other countries closing in on that. So I think it is mostly -
Mishal Husain: As they become rich, people's diets change.
Bojana Bajzeli: Yes, so -
Mishal Husain: What are you recommending, in terms of change? There's a campaign, for example, to have one meat-free day a week - would that be enough to change the projection that you're putting forward?
Bojana Bajzeli: Well, what we looked at is actually to try and also follow the health guidelines, which are, I think, even slightly less than just one day in a week without meat, but maybe go to about, well, reduce red meat to about only twice a week, for example. Poultry could be a bit more often...
Mishal Husain: And it's not just about meat, is it - it's also about dairy products, all those other products, that -
Bojana Bajzeli: It is, yes, that's true, yes.
Mishal Husain: How much of a difference needs to be made, on that front?
Bojana Bajzeli: Oh, well, I think an individual could feel okay if they ate a small portion of poultry a day, meant [?] red meat just as a kind of treat, maybe once a week. And I think, you know, meat and - sorry, dairy may be two glasses of milk or equivalent, per day. But we actually base these on health recommendations - we're not nutritional experts, we looked at other literature -
Mishal Husain: But you'd like to see aligning of environment and health perspectives.
Bojana Bajzeli: Yes, exactly - so what we found out was, basically, if we have healthy people, we'll also end up with healthier environment.
Mishal Husain: Bojana Bajzeli, thank you very much.