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Day of the lentil burghers: Ghent goesveggie to lose weight and save planet Belgian city hopes radical experiment will catch on
Meat, fish and seafood off the menu every Thursday
Ian Traynor in Ghent
The Guardian, Thursday 14 May 2009
Vegetarian delights such as soya fritters, eggless mayo and aubergine caviar will become part of Ghent's diet every
Thursday. Photograph: Gianni Barbieux
On the bouncy play platform outside Ghent's 15th century slaughterhouse, the banana
was thumping the beefsteak.
The two boys battled in the drizzle yesterday, the one in the fruity yellow costume
serving up another veggie victory over his rival in bloody scarlet.
The parent onlookers laughed and munched another soya fritter. Mmm, yummy, said
the man with a heart condition. They queued five-deep in the rain to dip their organic,
wholegrain bread in the aubergine caviar, to smear their lips with eggless mayo. Another
pure fruit vitamin cocktail under the marquee?
"This is pretty special, pretty unique," said Tobias Leenaert, an anti-meat campaigner.
"An entire city proclaiming one day a week a veggie day."
Ghent embarks on a radical experiment today, seeking to make every Thursday a day
free of meat and of the fish and shellfish for which the city is renowned.
On the eve of what is being touted as an unprecedented exercise, the biggest queue in
the Flemish university town of 200,000 yesterday was for signatures to collect a bag
of wholefood goodies and sign up for "Donderdag Veggie Dag", turning the burghers
of Ghent into pioneers in the fight against obesity, global warming, cruelty to animals
and against the myth that meat-free eating amounts to a diet of soggy lettuce, a slice of
tomato, and a foul-tasting bean burger.
The city council says it is the first town in Europe and probably the western world to tryto make the entire place vegetarian for a day every week. Tom Balthazar, the Labour
party councillor pushing the scheme, said: "There's nothing compulsory. We just want
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to be a city that promotes sustainable and healthy living."
Every restaurant in the city is to guarantee a vegetarian dish on the menu, with some
going fully vegetarian every Thursday. From September, the city's schools are to make a
meat-free meal the "default" option every Thursday, although parents can insist on meat
for their children. At least one hospital wants to join in.
A small, dreamy city of spires, bicycles, and canals, prospering since the Middle Ages,
Ghent may be on to something. It appears to be tapping into a zeitgeist awareness of thecost to human health and the environment of intensive meat and dairy farming. Other
towns in Belgium and the Netherlands are making inquiries; there has even been one
from Canada.
"We hope that the university, other institutions, enterprises and other towns will jump
on the train," said Leenaert, director of the local branch of Flanders' Ethical Vegetarian
Association (EVA).
The organisers cite UN data arguing that meat production and consumption are to
blame for 18% of greenhouse gases more than cars. "If everyone in Flanders does not
eat meat one day a week, we will save as much CO2 in a year as taking half a million cars
off the road," said the EVA.
"I never touch meat, unless I'm at my grandmother's and I need to be polite," said
Karien De Temmermann, a young EVA member.
"This is not a plan for everyone to be forced into vegetarianism," said Wim Coenen, a
vegan who works as an importer of vegetarian pet food from Italy. "But it will reduce
our carbon footprint. The basic premise is to introduce a way of lessening our meat
consumption."
The revolution starts today with a foodie festival at the vegetable market. Ninety
thousand town maps listing the best eateries for the meat-shy are being handed out.
Recipe booklets and food samples are being distributed, with fair trade wine to wash
down the nibbles. A nearby restaurant is serving a four-course veggie lunch for !12. The
kebab house on the market is eschewing the doner for broadbean falafel and haloumi
cheese.
Ghent boasts a string of outstanding restaurants and is well-known for gourmet
vegetarian cuisine. The council reckons it has more veggie eateries per capita than
London, Paris or Berlin.
The Lib-Lab coalition running the city was persuaded to back the idea when Philippe
van den Bulck, an outstanding culinary talent, served up a veggie gastronomic tour de
force at the town hall. He is one of Flanders's top chefs and food writers, doing time atEl Bulli in Spain, to many the best restaurant in the world. He is also a vegetarian.
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Comments in chronological order (Total 102
comments)Staff
Contributor
mochila14 May 2009 9:40AM
Obviously, the western diet cannot be adopted by the planet's entire population, the
land required is simply not available. It is great to see a whole city kick-start what is a
debate which is over-due on this scale.
It has put Ghent on the map for me, and I'll be paying the place a visit to take in the vibe
of a place changing its collective consciousness. I'd love a follow-up report on this in the
future.
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gatz
14 May 2009 9:46AM
Every restaurant in the city is to guarantee a vegetarian dish on the menu, with some
going fully vegetarian every Thursday.
Now that's a very different proposition to 'forcing' everyone to go veggie one day a week,
as much coverage has suggested, isn't it? Even as a vegeterain of more than 20 years
standing (and one who weighs about 90k - a veggie diet doesn't automatically convey
sveltness) I know that coercing people into doing anything about their diet is bound tobackfire.
Oh, and if the point is not to reinforce cliches, why the insistance on refering to the
bread as organic wholegrain? Even if it was on this occaision it is not difficult to eat
nothing but junk on a vegetarian diet if that is what you wish to do.
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Intersubjective1
14 May 2009 9:51AM
It's amazing how most people think that they haven't eaten properly or enough if they
don't eat meat, even for a day, when you can swap beef or chicken for a pasta dish or a
pizza.
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teaboy
14 May 2009 9:55AM
No comments yet? I'll start- it's a great idea!
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ariel3
14 May 2009 9:55AM
surprised no flesheater has mentioned extra-methane yet.
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Nattydread69
14 May 2009 9:56AM
Ghent is a lovely city, I used to live near there, very vibrant.
Unfortunately not all veggie food is healthy. Bet most of you don't know that soya causes
brain damage in men. Its not healthy at all.
But on a whole less meat can only be a good thing for the world.
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OneForTeam
14 May 2009 10:03AM
Ghent is a wonderful city. Now there's an extra reason to visit!
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CandiceMarie
14 May 2009 10:03AM
I was thinking of booking a trip to Ghent anyway, this has made up my mind. These are
the kind of sacrifices we are going to have to make on an increasing basis. Maybe in a
decade they will be leading us to only having meat once a week.
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Intersubjective1
14 May 2009 10:10AM
Nattydread: your news is ten years old the most up-to-date research on soya suggest
othewise:
From the Institute of Food Research Website:Evidence for soya causing breast cancer or reducing the risk of breast cancer is scarce
and inconclusive. Conversely, research from the USA supports an inverse relationship
between the intake of non-fermented soya products and prostate cancer. Other studies
suggest that frequent consumption (> once a day) of soymilk is associated with a
reduction in prostate cancer risk For more information on the studies conducted visit
the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website.
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languedocienne
14 May 2009 10:12AM
One meatless day a week is a great idea, and no loss for those who want a tasty diet. I
love meat, but vegetables too and have at least one meatless day per week. Beef is the
least sustainable meat and I hardly ever eat that. Pork and chicken, locally produced,
can be perfectly sustainable and good for the whole cycle of food production.
Local food is important too. Transporting food causes huge amounts of CO2 emissions
and it's better to eat eggs and meat produced nearby than fruit and vegetables from the
other side of the world. Bananas, for instance, do not grow anywhere near Ghent.
Aubergine for the caviar does, but in heated greenhouses. It makes a good news story
and it makes people think, but we have to be sensible about the choices we make to save
the planet.
http://olives-and-artichokes.blogspot.com
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hannaka
14 May 2009 10:15AM
Ghent is a great place, as is Belgium. I love how Belgians often surprise me (as an expat)
with such excellent measures! Can you imagine not allowing cars into London for a day
to allow people to cycle and roller skate across the whole city? And yet Brussels does it
every year!
I think the article could also have mentioned how unethical it is that the majority of the
grain produced in the world goes towards feeding cattle which will be used for meat,
when there are people in many parts of the world who cannot afford that grain as a
result.
There are many reasons to cut down our meat consumption, and this is a great way for a
city to set a good example.
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ashie25914 May 2009 10:16AM
Sounds as if they're going about it the right way. Great idea - something entirely
positive.
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McMuggins14 May 2009 10:17AM
..And to think, the only time I had been conscious of Ghent was a poem featuring
someone bringing good news to the place ( from Aix? , I think) and flogging his horse to
death in the process. Roll on with the good ideas.
Cheers.
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juanveron
14 May 2009 10:18AM
Imagine the reactions of a starving African or Asian family when they hear that,
somewhere in Europe, people will abstain fron eating meat for one day (what a
sacrifice!) in order to save the world!
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ciderguard
14 May 2009 10:26AM
Right, that's the holiday booked! Ghent here I come!
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Dunnyboy
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14 May 2009 10:27AM
At least they are not forcing people to become vegetarians, so children and civil servants
won't have to suffer at the hands of the faddists.
I liked the line "It appears to be tapping into a zeitgeist awareness of the cost to human
health and the environment of intensive meat and dairy farming." It's amazing how a
tiny minority of well-organised activists can think of their obsession as the zeitgeist.
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2345678
14 May 2009 10:34AM
Excellent! And Brussels has just had another car free day.
Public transport is so bad in Uk prob. not possible.
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zubzub
14 May 2009 10:35AM
Intersubjective wrote
It's amazing how most people think that they haven't eaten properly or enough if they
don't eat meat, even for a day, when you can swap beef or chicken for a pasta dish or a
pizza.
In the nicest way possible, that is quite the most stupid thing I've ever read on CiF.
Comparing pasta to meat as like for like - you can't be serious?
I'd agree with vegetarians, to a degree, that economically and environmentally a meat
based diet can't sustain the planet's population. But physiologically, it's free range meat
- with all of the accompanying saturated fat - for me thank you.
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Voluspa
14 May 2009 10:35AM
Excellent idea. Anything however small it is that offers an alternative to the diet we in
the west are currently killing ourselves with is a good thing. Well done Ghent.
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calumsquire
14 May 2009 10:36AM
This is such a great idea!
Spreading word such as this is great. Having been vegan for over a year now - can say
it's the best thing ever happened to me. Mostly veggie since reaching double figures.
Should happen in more places!Very positive outlook!
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RedRicky1
14 May 2009 10:37AM
Whether is meat or veggie is irrelevant, it's how the food is produced which causesglobal warming. Diverting rivers for crops and ploughing up fragile land causes far more
damage then grazing in some cases (think Australia). You should eat if possible local
ethically produced food the rest of this PC Veggie bollocks like the import of veggie pet
food. Just kill and eat the pet and turn the skin into a coat if you want to be really green
:-)
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zubzub
14 May 2009 10:47AM
Voluspa wrote
Excellent idea. Anything however small it is that offers an alternative to the diet we in
the west are currently killing ourselves with is a good thing. Well done Ghent.
The diet we are currently killing ourselves with? I presume you must mean the carbs
with carbs with a big side of extra carbs diet (dessert if still hungry - more carbs).
Organic, fairtrade, low GI spelt pasta or a f*%king Mars Bar: it doesn't matter, it all ends
up as a shitload of glucose. Do you think your insulin cares whether the glucose comes
from grains or a can of Coke?
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MrLondonKiwi
14 May 2009 10:53AM
Yet another pointless exercise by unimaginative people who think they are saving the
plant -- yawn.
I agree with Redricky1 to an extent, however even eating local is not a black and white
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decision. importing product from countries that can grow / raise it more efficiently due
to favourable climate for example may offset the freight impact in some cases.
We were designed to eat meat and it is yummy.
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Touchy
14 May 2009 10:54AM
Hannaka is right - Belgium is AWESOME!
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DianeDrinkwater
14 May 2009 10:59AM
I think learning to eat dandelions and chickweed would be more beneficial to the planet.
It seems to be what we grow most of around the places we live.
I appluad them for trying though.
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Gingecat
14 May 2009 11:04AM
Today I shall eat all the (meat) pies.
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Kaz1
14 May 2009 11:15AM
These are the kind of sacrifices we are going to have to make on an increasing basis
It is great news and hopefully Ghent is just the first of many places to take a similar
position. However referring to not eating animal-based products as a 'sacrifice' is an
indication of just how far there is to go before we can reverse the meat-dependent
culture in which we live. Vegetarian (and preferably vegan) food is not a sacrifice, both
literally and metaphorically!
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Sipowicz
14 May 2009 11:18AM
Ghent was already pretty cool for veggies. Try the Tasty-World veggieburgers at
Hoogpoort 1 and Walpoortstraat 38 for great fast food also Greenway Foods atNederkouter 42 for salads, pasta, hot baguettes and burgers. For something a bit more
special try Panda at Oudburg 38 for great organic food. However be careful at Avalon,
Geldmunt 32, which advertises itself as vegetarian but includes fish in some of its
dishes.
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defendyourself
14 May 2009 11:21AM
Well said zubzub.
It seems to be too much to ask that people acquaint themselves with a bit of basic
physiology. The diet that is currently killing us? Well that must explain why in the West
we are living longer than ever before, growing taller, stronger and have relegated dietary
deficiencies to the dustbin of history. There is an ever growing tendency to ignore the
gains made in human health and wellbeing by the last one hundred and fifty years of
technological and industrial development. That is not to say that there have been no
mistakes and that there are not even better ways of doing things waiting to be
discovered. Try looking on the positive side for once eh!What you eat should be a matter of choice, sadly for all too many people that is not the
case, because there isn't enough food available. Eating less meat will not help them,
eating your veg will not help them, buying their produce might.
How about we have a mind your own business day. Sounds good to me.
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Robcris
14 May 2009 11:26AM
Fantastic, great, well done!! Let all happy and civilized cities and towns follow Ghents
lead! Bravo!
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14 May 2009 11:27AM
This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn't abide by our community
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Robcris
14 May 2009 11:34AM
Hey "defendyourself", have you tried researching the facts? People in the west may bestronger and taller than the poor starving masses, but that doesnt mean that
westerners are healthy! Have you any idea of the problems facing the National Health
Service in the UK?! We eat too much fatty food, too much sugar and salt, and drink way
too much alcohol, and you must know that. Did you know that 1 kilo of beef uses up the
resourses for 10 kilos of the equivalent crop foods? Meat production is a very very
inefficient use of the worlds resources, and if we cut back, maybe there would be more
for the poor. You may think you are a free-eating man of the world, but the fact is that
you are talking like a selfish and careless person!
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FFScat
14 May 2009 11:37AM
Lentil burghers! Ha-hah! Good one.
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Melkan
14 May 2009 11:41AM
It is great news and hopefully Ghent is just the first of many places to take a similar
position. However referring to not eating animal-based products as a 'sacrifice' is an
indication of just how far there is to go before we can reverse the meat-dependent
culture in which we live. Vegetarian (and preferably vegan) food is not a sacrifice,
both literally and metaphorically!
It is. Its a potentially-extinction-inducing threat. The human body evolved to eat
omniverously, and needs both animal and non-animal products to survive and prosper
(for example vitamin B12). You can get by short-term on not eating animal products but
in the long term, reproductive fitness can only be assured by eating a mixed and
balanced diet. This is basic scientic fact.
And can I remind any "but I've been a vegan since the year dot and I'm healthy" type-
responders that the plural of "ancedote" is not "data"?
And besides, vegans are utterly misable as sin, all of them. As the great Anthony
Bourdain said, "My body is an amusement park, not a temple".
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neecheecat
14 May 2009 11:49AM
I think it's a great idea.
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aussibum
14 May 2009 12:03PM
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steve3742
14 May 2009 12:05PM
Whether is meat or veggie is irrelevant, it's how the food is produced which causes
global warming. Diverting rivers for crops and ploughing up fragile land causes far more
damage then grazing in some cases (think Australia). You should eat if possible local
ethically produced food the rest of this PC Veggie bollocks like the import of veggie pet
food. Just kill and eat the pet and turn the skin into a coat if you want to be really green
:-)
OK, but given that the relatively huge amounts of meat in the western diet require
intensive farming of animals and that this, in turn, requires intensive farming of veg
(between 5-10 times as much land is required to produce enough crops to feed animalsto produce the same amount of calories as if you just grew crops to eat), then it seems
this "PC Veggie bollocks" micght just have a point?
The diet that is currently killing us? Well that must explain why in the West we are
living longer than ever before, growing taller, stronger and have relegated dietary
deficiencies to the dustbin of history. There is an ever growing tendency to ignore the
gains made in human health and wellbeing by the last one hundred and fifty years of
technological and industrial development.
Perhaps advances in medicine and sanitation in particualar, not to mention increases in
general standard of living are responsible for our increased lifespan? The western diet is
responsible for a) ever increasing obesity, which is killing people and b) environmental
destruction, which is also killing people.
What you eat should be a matter of choice, sadly for all too many people that is not the
case, because there isn't enough food available. Eating less meat will not help them,
eating your veg will not help them, buying their produce might.
How about we have a mind your own business day. Sounds good to me.
The lack of food is more due to political factors, however when food production is short,
going veggie or partially veggie can help feed a larger population because of that 5-10
times factor mentioned earlier. This is, more or less, what we did in WWII.
Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian,i say no more.
No he wasn't. And even if he was, it would make no difference. Under Godwin's Law,
you've just lost this argument.
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gatz
14 May 2009 12:12PM
And can I remind any "but I've been a vegan since the year dot and I'm healthy" type-responders that the plural of "ancedote" is not "data"? ...
And besides, vegans are utterly misable as sin, all of them
I trust you'll make the evidence for your scientific research on the effect of a vegan diet
on mood available for review, Melkan?
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Bartel
14 May 2009 12:15PM
Tried camel for the first time at the weekend; bit like tough roast beef, must be all the
sandy seasoning. Still rather chow down on a Ship of the Desert burger than a bloody
soya fritter, mind. And how exactly is 'eggless mayo' doing its bit for the global
economy?
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reasoning
14 May 2009 12:17PM
MrLondonKiwi
We were not designed to eat meat! Eating meat we are killing ourselves slowly....
Just check it in some biology books and look at the comparison of the digestive systems
of carnivores, omnivores, herbivores, and humans. Ours is closest to herbivores!
Many of the present diseases are caused by our eating meat!
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steve3742
14 May 2009 12:21PM
It is. Its a potentially-extinction-inducing threat. The human body evolved to eat
omniverously, and needs both animal and non-animal products to survive and prosper
(for example vitamin B12). You can get by short-term on not eating animal products but
in the long term, reproductive fitness can only be assured by eating a mixed and
balanced diet. This is basic scientic fact.
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Basic scientific fact my arse. Post a reference, if you can.
B12 exists naturally in many vegetarian foods. It exists artificaially in a lot of vegan ones
(Marmite, for example.)
And can I remind any "but I've been a vegan since the year dot and I'm healthy" type-
responders that the plural of "ancedote" is not "data"?
Like to produce some data yourself, as you're so fond of scientific method?
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nairobiny
14 May 2009 12:22PM
And can I remind any "but I've been a vegan since the year dot and I'm healthy" type-
responders that the plural of "ancedote" is not "data"?
Though your comment was the plural of bollock.
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ASueDenim
14 May 2009 12:31PM
I think this a really great idea (and I'll definitely be looking at visiting Ghent). It would
be nice if a few towns in the UK could do something similar: e.g. one day a week
consuming locally produced food.Oh and Melkan - you forgot to cite the name of the publication, where the research
citing
vegans are utterly misable as sin, all of them
was examined and proved one way or the other.....
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Bartel
14 May 2009 12:32PM
And this isn't snottiness but a genuine question: presumably if we stop raising livestock
then all those sheep and cattle will be returned to the wild to fend for themselves? No
more wasteful expenditure of crops to feed them? Well then, why don't we start by
getting rid of all pets? Does anyone know offhand exactly how many tonnes of grain,
crops and meat - basic sustenance that surely could be better used feeding the world's
hungry - the West goes through every year just keeping their dogs, cats, parrots and
rabbits fed? How can we justify devoting so much food to animals that give nothing
back?
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Bartel
14 May 2009 12:35PM
"We were not designed to eat meat! Eating meat we are killing ourselves slowly....Just check it in some biology books and look at the comparison of the digestive systems
of carnivores, omnivores, herbivores, and humans. Ours is closest to herbivores!
Many of the present diseases are caused by our eating meat!"
Twaddle. I'll back my assertion up with facts whenever you do the same.
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Thropplenoggin
14 May 2009 12:37PM
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ianfischer
14 May 2009 12:47PM
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HarrocknRoll
14 May 2009 12:50PM
Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian,i say no more.
Reductio ad Hitlerum
Mahatma Gandhi was also vegetarian.
(Reductio ad Gandhium)
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keepsmiling
14 May 2009 12:56PM
defendyourself
There is an ever growing tendency to ignore the gains made in human health and
wellbeing by the last one hundred and fifty years of technological and industrial
development.
There is an ever growing tendency to ignore the facts that (a) the last the last one
hundred and fifty years of technological and industrial development are the result ofabundant fossil fuels. The scienctific and medical base we take for granted, and which,
in addition to clean water and sanitation, are the reason why we live longer, are mainly a
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result of cheap and abundant energy, e.g. mostly oil. This age is coming to an end and
agriculture will change with it. Agriculture is 95% fossil-fuel dependent - for fertilizers,
pesticides, machinery and transport - if we want to eat, over the next few decades, we
need to reduce that dependency.
What you eat should be a matter of choice, sadly for all too many people that is not the
case, because there isn't enough food available. Eating less meat will not help them,
eating your veg will not help them, buying their produce might.
Not maintaining spurious debt which transfers vast amounts of wealth from poor to richcountries might help them even more. Then they could feed themselves instead of us -
which we'll all have to do once the cost of global transport become prohibitive. Oops, we
only produce about 40% of our food - what shall we do?
Oh, and we need to reduce populations everywhere and quickly. The carrying capacity of
the earth before oil was around a quarter of what it is now - also soils were less depleted
and less land had been built over with things you can't grow food on, like car parks and
runways.
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langley
14 May 2009 1:01PM
great, Ghent leads the way once again. In the past they have shown the way with proper
community care for those with mental illness.
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