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  • Essay / Should committed environmentalists choose to adopt a...

    IntroductionThe environmental impacts of a diet based on animal products are well documented and are the source of much debate. According to a controversial United Nations report titled Livestock's Long Shadow (2006), "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at all scales, from local to global." » For those committed to reducing their environmental impact, one solution would be to switch to a vegetarian or even vegan diet. It is not necessarily ethical to prescribe a way of being to environmentalists around the world, especially without thinking about cultural differences. However, most committed environmentalists should adopt a vegetarian or vegan diet, with some reservations. Indeed, (1) animal products constitute an ineffective source of protein in terms of environmental impact, (2) greenhouse gas emissions from a diet based on animal products are significantly superior to those of a plant-based diet and (3) animals are part of the environment and their treatment is as important as the treatment of the planet as a whole. Diverging Opinions Among Environmentalists Environmentalists champion many causes in their fight to protect nature. Their tactics may involve direct actions, petitions, media stunts and boycotts. Boycotting a company involved in unethical behavior can be very effective and one of the simplest and most direct ways to exercise your consumer power, since most of the world's population is integrated into the capitalist economic system. Research has shown that three areas where we contribute most of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are transport, domestic energy and food, all areas where committed environmentalists are. . middle of paper ...... food rent protein choices, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vol. 78, p. 664s-668s.Stepaniak J, 2000, Being vegan: living with awareness, conviction and compassion, Lowell House, Los Angeles. Tukker, A & Jansen, B 2006, “Environmental impacts of products – a detailed review of studies”, Journal of industrial ecology, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 159-182. Waller, D, 1997, “A vegetarian critique of deep and social ecology”, Ethics and the Environment, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 187-197.Weber, CL & Matthews, HS 2008, 'Food miles and the relative climate impacts of food choices in the United States', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 42, no. 10, pp. 3508-3513.Wells, T 2005, The world in your kitchen, New Internationalist Publications, Oxford. Yacoubou, J 2011, “Ecocriticism as vegetarian activism”, Vegetarian Journal, vol, 30, n° 2, pp. 12-14.