October 29, 2009 at 06:35 AM
The furore and ridicule generated by My Lordship Stern of Brentford suggests that he is on to something here. It is no surprise that the farmers and meat producers should be up in arms. But that he should receive such uniformly mocking press is a sign of him having touched a nerve.
All he has stated is his opinion that we should change our lifestyles to adapt to changing circumstances. He is advocating something we all do instinctively anyway; he cites drunken driving, one could think abut the decline in indoor or anywhere) smoking. When we anticipate a period of being paid less, we pull our horns in. When we are in a library we quieten down, when at the university reunion, we get a lot louder.
So why should we not introduce non-meat days into our diets? Google the phrase "Brazilian cattle-ranching" and select Images. You will see the scale of land that is needed to raise cattle for the developed world. One tonne of beef takes up nine times the resources (land, water, feed) of one tonne of wheat. The feed itself needs space to grow so Google "King Soy" while you are at it. If the developed world believes in helping the developing nations fight poverty, then as mad as it sounds, eating mozzarella instead of chicken breast in your salad is one way of doing this. Personally I wouldn't want to give up meat completely...but I know I can manage without it from time to time. So can you. Lead, don't follow.
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