Go veggie or run out of food?

"Food shortages could force world into vegetarianism, warn scientists", reports the Guardian - Warns, or recommends? I am a nearly-vegitarian, I think “meat reducer” is term sometimes applied. I don’t cook with meat at home, but I do eat it if I eat out, as I’m also a fussy eater! I do so on the grounds of sustainability - Producing meat consumes roughly ten times more water (as the article highlights), but also ten times more land, and ten times more energy. In other words the same input of energy and resources can get me ten vegetarian meals, or one meaty meal. In a world where Humans are rapidly consuming all the resources available, a world with rapidly increasing numbers of humans, humans that are fast developing and acquiring richer tastes, I don’t feel I, as one of those humans, can justify the drain on the world’s resources eating meat requires.

I’ve been steadily moving away from meat for some time, my portions got gradually smaller, until I started using meat substitutes occasional, then all the time. I can’t quite imagine I would become a 100% vegetarian, and veganism fills me with dread (I’m not sure even the fate of the world can drive me away from milk chocolate and icecream), but then again a few years ago I wouldn’t of imagined I’d become as close to a veggie as I am now. So who knows where my moral position will take my diet next.

For now I ask you simply to consider. Do you really need as much meat in your life as you have now? It’s bad for the planet, and not even that great for you - We in the west especially have become far too casual about meat in our diets. If we look to our species’ past, to current more traditional cultures, or other omnivorous species, you’ll find meat is an occasional food, almost a dietary supplement. With the knowledge of our species demands on the planet’s resources we would wise to return to this approach.