Green Living Column Jan 2021: SDG12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

 

PENCINTA ALAM JANUARY 2021

GREEN LIVING COLUMN:

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL (SDG) 12: RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION.

 By Wong Ee Lynn <wongeelynn@yahoo.com>

 

(Image credits: https://www.globalgoals.org/resources)

In December 2020, Green Living Coordinator Ee Lynn was interviewed by Ecocentric Transitions for their Science Film Festival – Goethe Institute SDG Online Series for a special episode on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.

 

You can view the video here: 

https://www.facebook.com/ecocentrictransitions/videos/842294303211720

(Image credits: https://www.globalgoals.org/12-responsible-consumption-and-production)

As the video is over 40 minutes in length, we have decided to provide you with a summary in the form of the quick facts below:

 

 

1.      1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year, yet almost 2 billion people go hungry or undernourished. At the same time, 2 billion people globally are categorized as overweight or obese.

2.      The production of food accounts for around 22%  of total greenhouse gas emissions, and this is largely from the conversion of forests into farmland. Globally, agriculture accounts for 92% of global freshwater use. 29% of the water used in agriculture is directly or indirectly used for animal production.

3.      Livestock is the world’s largest user of land resources, with pasture and arable land dedicated to the production of feed representing almost 80% of total agricultural land. One third of global arable land is used to grow feed, while 26% of the Earth’s ice-free terrestrial surface is used for grazing.

4.      If we continue to consume and waste resources the way we do, by the year 2050, we will need the equivalent of 3 planet earths to sustain our lifestyles.

5.      World or Earth Overshoot Day is the calculated calendar date on which humanity’s resource consumption for that year exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate those resources that year. It’s like taking out a bank overdraft that you know you’re not going to be able to pay back.

6.      The way you calculate Earth Overshoot Day is by dividing the planet’s biocapacity (which is the amount of natural resources generated by Earth that year) by the world ecological footprint (which is humanity’s consumption of Earth’s natural resources for that year) and multiplying it by 365.

7.      Ecological overshoot started in the early 1970s and is getting earlier each year. Earth Overshoot Day 2019 fell on the 29^th of July, the earliest ever. However, due to the Covid19 pandemic, Earth Overshoot Day 2020 was pushed back to the 22^nd of August. This is mostly because of reduced fossil fuel consumption, people were flying and driving less, and many factories and plants had to temporarily shut down. There was also a 8.4% reduction in deforestation and the harvesting of forest products because of movement restrictions worldwide and also because of lower demand, which is good for the forests. The pandemic made us aware that we can and should consume less, and we can do so without significantly reducing the quality of our lives.

8.      We need food to survive, but the food we choose makes a big difference to our carbon footprint. Food accounts for between 10 to 30 % of a household’s carbon footprint. Food production accounts for 68% of food’s carbon emissions, while transportation accounts for 5% of it. Since transportation accounts for only 5% of the carbon footprint of our food, we should focus more on WHAT we eat, not whether or not our food is locally produced and sourced.

9.      Meat production has a larger carbon footprint per calorie than plant-based food, because of the inefficient transformation of plant energy to animal energy, and due to the methane released from manure management and enteric fermentation in livestock. It’s not efficient because its production is responsible for 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions, but meat products provide merely 18% of calories and 37% of protein levels around the world.

10.   70% of the deforestation of the Amazon is to provide land for cattle ranches so if you want to do something to protect the Amazon rainforest, one of the best things you can do would be to go vegan if you can, go vegetarian if you can’t go vegan, and reduce meat and dairy consumption as much as possible if you can’t go fully vegetarian either. A regular meat-eater has the highest carbon footprint at 3.3 tons of greenhouse gas emissions. A vegan diet has the lowest carbon footprint at only 1.5 tons. You can reduce the carbon footprint of your food by up to 73% just by cutting out meat and dairy.

11.   Researchers at the University of Oxford found that if everyone stopped eating meat and dairy, global farmland use could be reduced by 75%. This is an area equivalent to the size of the USA, China, Australia, and the European Union combined. Not only would this significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it would also free up land which can then be rewilded to support wildlife populations again.

12.   Cities and towns need to be resilient in that in the event of a major disaster or adverse event causing it to be cut off from other cities, it should be able to produce sufficient food to meet the immediate needs of its residents. In neighbouring Singapore, there are sky farming initiatives to boost the nation’s food security by growing vegetables and fruits via hydroponics and aeroponics. Singapore also has the distinction of becoming the first country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat, and this will no doubt improve its food self sufficiency because it will no longer have to rely as heavily on countries with grazing land for animal protein. It would be great to see Malaysia take steps towards increased food self sufficiency in each state and city, and promote the replacement of conventionally grown meat with lab-grown meat and plant-based meat, for environmental and health reasons, and also for food self-sufficiency.

 

 

A Beginner's Guide To A Plant-Based Diet

PENCINTA ALAM JAN 2016
GREEN LIVING COLUMN
A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO A PLANT-BASED DIET

By Wong Ee Lynn
(wongeelynn@yahoo.com / gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com)

Former California Governor and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger recently made waves in the news when he urged people to try to go meat-free once or twice a week for the sake of the environment. Recognising that many people would find it challenging to go fully vegetarian, he wisely pointed out that "People will buy in to stop eating meat one or two days a week - you have to start slowly. It's a very big challenge but it doesn't mean it shouldn't be done."

The factory farming industry has a very large carbon footprint. Producing 1kg of meat protein is calculated to take between 3 and 10kg of vegetable protein.

Emissions from farming, forestry and fisheries have nearly doubled over the past 50 years and may increase by another 30% by 2050, according to the United Nations.

Most of the emissions from meat farming come from belching livestock and nitrogen fertilisers.

People go vegetarian and vegan for many reasons -- religious, health, environmental and ethical -- and all these reasons are commendable. Whether you are a full-time vegan or vegetarian or someone trying to reduce his or her meat intake, all efforts to eat fewer animal products should be encouraged and applauded. No effort is too small or negligible. We may not volunteer for environmental organisations, clean up oceans, plant trees, or save endangered wildlife every day, BUT we do eat every day, and therefore even small changes to our diet will make a large difference over time.

Here are ways to gradually reduce your intake of meat and animal products and transition to a plant-based diet, tried and tested by the vegetarian subcommittee members of the Green Living Special Interest Group:

1. Identify good reasons for going vegetarian or reducing meat consumption. If  your goal is to impress somebody you like or just to reduce enough weight for a special occasion, you might not stick with the goal for long. To remind yourself of your reasons and goals, it may be helpful to visit websites such as Mercy for Animals (http://www.mercyforanimals.org/), Humane Society International (http://hsi.org/), and One Green Planet (http://www.onegreenplanet.org/) or watch documentaries such as Earthlings to educate, empower and motivate yourself. Be forewarned, though, that the graphic images in some of these documentaries can evoke strong emotions.

2. Start small. Meatless Monday is an easy, painless way to start. Increase it to two days a week, and then increase it until you can be a Weekday Vegetarian. When you are ready, transition into a full time vegetarian and finally, into a vegan.

3. Start by eating lower on the food chain. "First, four legs, then two legs, then no legs" is a good way to start. What it means is that you start by eliminating beef, mutton, pork and venison from your diet, and once you are able to do this, move on to eliminating poultry, and finally, eliminate seafood, fish, eggs and dairy from your diet.

4. Mark 'cheat days', for example, parties and holiday dinners, into your calendar so that you will not feel deprived if you are accustomed to enjoying meat. Make a conscious effort to go vegetarian on all the other days leading up to the 'cheat days'. Allowing yourself 'cheat days' makes the transition easier. Over time, you will find that your body no longer craves meat or animal products and you can go without 'cheat days'. Don't feel guilty about relapses or occasional cravings. You need to feel positive, confident and joyful about the decision you are making to eat less meat for the environment and animals, and guilt and negativity are unproductive. If you do relapse, just get back into the groove of meatless meals as soon as you can.

5. Keep healthy, satisfying vegetarian snacks and ready-to-eat meals at home and at work so that you will not be tempted to relapse. Many people believe that vegetarian foods are not filling or nutritious, because they tend to choose processed food filled with carbohydrates and sodium or sugar, or fruits and vegetables without a protein component to fill an empty belly. Have a variety of sweet and savoury snacks at hand, for example, nuts, hummus, high-fibre crackers, roast soybeans, air-dried noodles, vegetable soup stock, frozen vegetables, fresh and dried fruit, carrot and celery sticks, and peanut butter and other spreads. 

6. Prepare vegetarian food to bring to parties and gatherings so that you will have something meatless to eat. It is also a good way to introduce others to vegetarian food. Chances are, there will be at least one other vegetarian there. Don't be afraid to make the same dish for every gathering if it very popular the first time around.

7. Identify good sources of vegetarian protein, calcium and iron that do not involve supplements, powdered shakes, and mock meat. Reduce the consumption of processed foods and mock meat, as the latter is filled with sodium and empty calories. Hummus, chickpeas and edamame beans are rich in protein. Kale, alfalfa, spinach, broccoli, beetroot and kailan are rich in calcium and iron. Find something you like and don't be afraid to eat it often, as it is preferable to making something you hate and having to throw the leftovers out.

8. Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to get your minimum of five-a-day. Use sauces, dressings and other hacks to train yourself to like fruits and vegetables you would not usually eat. Grind or chop up vegetables to add to pasta sauce or soup. Blend beetroot or kale with chickpeas to make delicious and addictive hummus spreads. Add vegetables to smoothies and disguise their flavour with lots of fruits (e.g. carrots with oranges, beetroot with strawberries). I have also found that hardly anyone would turn down a colourful and vitamin-laden salad if you chop everything up finely and dress the salad with sesame dressing for an Oriental-style salad, or with salsa and corn chips for a Southwestern taco salad. 

9. Visit websites such as Happy Cow (www.happycow.net/) or download apps such as Kindmeal.my (http://www.kindmeal.my/) to make the search for vegetarian and vegetarian-friendly restaurants easier. Set yourself goals such as to try a new restaurant or a new food each week.

10. Visit websites such as Vegan Richa (www.veganricha.com/) and One Green Planet (http://www.onegreenplanet.org/) for easy vegetarian and vegan recipes. Don't be afraid to try new foods and recipes, and at the same time, don't be afraid to keep repeating a handful of recipes that you do like. Keep a few staples in your pantry and stock your refrigerator so that you do not run out of fresh produce and vegetarian ingredients.

11. If you are just starting out as a vegetarian and want to try a meatless meal, go for vegan versions of your favourite meals, e.g. lasagna, pizza or curry. This will increase the chances of you liking the vegan version, and there will always be a go-to dish you can rely on when faced with a menu full of things you are uncertain about.

12. Don't expect substitutes to taste like meat. They usually don't. Mushrooms will taste like mushrooms and chickpeas will taste like chickpeas. If you expect any different, you might develop the impression that a particular meatless dish tastes 'weird', 'fake' or 'inferior to meat'.

13. People often claim that vegetarian meals are unhealthy and expensive. They are not. Going vegetarian isn't unhealthy -- eating mock meat and processed food is. Vegetables and fruits aren't more expensive than meat, even if you are buying mostly organic -- but eating out in restaurants all the time or buying imported and processed foods (especially substitutes such as vegan cheese and almond milk) can be! Make wise choices according to your budget and nutritional needs.

14. Make your meals attractive so that you will look forward to eating them. A bento box filled with colourful sliced vegetables and neat sandwiches is easy and inexpensive to prepare and pack, and fun and convenient to eat.
 

15. Find other ways to green your meals. Buy local, seasonal and organic whenever possible. Choose products with the least plastic and packaging. Go for fresh or frozen instead of processed foods. Choose products with no vegetable oils that are linked to deforestation and environmental destruction.

16. Be a joyful vegetarian. Prepare and eat meals that make you feel good. Don't isolate your friends who are not vegetarian. Don't preach or brag about your choice to go vegetarian or shame others for what they choose to eat. Join friends for meals out and parties, but choose the vegetarian option or bring a dish you can eat, so that you will not feel left out. Most restaurants have at least a few vegetarian options, or are happy to customise a dish for you. Be positive and optimistic, for many others like you are also making a conscious effort to consume sustainably, responsibly and compassionately!

Genetically-Modified Foods and How They Affect Us

PENCINTA ALAM APRIL 2013 
GREEN LIVING COLUMN

GENETICALLY-MODIFIED FOODS AND HOW THEY AFFECT US

(Sourced and adapted from Care2.com and Mercola.com. Available at: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/health-risks-of-eating-gmo-foods.html and http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/03/05/gmo-affects-climate-change.aspx)

HEALTH CONCERNS:

Genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are any living thing that has had its genetic material altered in some way through human scientific interference. This does not refer to “selective breeding,” such as when certain crops are selectively bred by gardeners over time to withstand heat, for instance, or the process by which different dog breeds were developed over time.

Instead, GMOs undergo a form of gene therapy under lab conditions whereby segments of DNA are spliced, rearranged or removed altogether.

You may have been eating genetically modified food for years and not even know it. In the United States, much of the corn and soybeans produced (especially those to be fed to livestock or to provide filler material in processed foods at the supermarket) contain some portion of genetically modified material.

GMOs have infiltrated our shops and food chain largely without much study into their long-term health effects on our bodies. However, The Environmental Working Group conservatively estimates that each American consumes about 190 pounds of GM foods every year despite this lack of research. Choosy consumers are worried about these potential health impacts:

1. Allergies

Perhaps the number one health concern over GM technology is its capacity to create new allergens in our food supply. Allergic reactions typically are brought on by proteins. Nearly every transfer of genetic material from one host into a new one results in the creation of novel proteins. Genetic engineering can increase the levels of a naturally occurring allergen already present in a food or insert allergenic properties into a food that did not previously contain them. It can also result in brand new allergens we’ve never before known.

2. Antibiotic Resistance

Genetic engineers rely heavily on antibiotics to guide experiments. It works like this: Not all host cells will take up foreign genes, so engineers attach a trait for a particular type of antibiotic resistance to the gene they introduce into host cells. After they have introduced the gene into the cells, they douse all the cells with the antibiotic to see which ones survive. The surviving cells are antibiotic-resistant, and therefore engineers know they have taken up the foreign gene.

Overuse of antibiotics can potentially cause the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Several health organizations, including the World Health Organization and the American Medical Association, have spoken out about the need for the use of these antibiotics to be phased out of the process of making GM foods.

3. Pesticide Exposure

The majority of GM crops in cultivation are engineered to contain a gene for pesticide resistance. Most are “Roundup Ready,” meaning they can be sprayed with Monsanto’s glyphosate herbicide Roundup without being harmed. The idea is that if the crop itself is immune to Roundup, you can spray it to kill any weeds endangering the plant without worrying about harming your crop.

Sound like a good thing? Only if increased human exposure to pesticides is a good thing. Glyphosate has been linked to numerous health problems in animal studies, among them birth defects, reproductive damage, cancer and endocrine disruption.

4. Unpredictability and the Unknown

Foreign genetic material in a host can cause other genetic material in that host to behave erratically. Genes can be suppressed or overexpressed, causing a wide variety of results. One consequence of over-expression, for example, can be cancer. Nutritional problems can also result from the transfer. In one example, cows that ate Roundup Ready soybeans produced milk with more fat in it.

In another example, milk from cows injected with a genetically engineered growth hormone was found by a number of researchers, including those published in the journal Lancet, to have substantially higher levels of a compound known as insulin-like growth factor-1, which is linked to human breast, colon and prostate cancers. The milk also has higher levels of bovine growth hormones in it, along with pus and sometimes antibiotics.

GM crops have been linked to health problems as diverse as reproductive damage, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes. Concerned scientists have been outspoken about these risks.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS:

Corn and soy—much of which are genetically engineered—are rapidly overtaking native grasslands in some parts of the world, including a number of US states. This is a trend that may have a not-so-insignificant impact on our environment and subsequently, our ability to secure our food supply long-term.

The "faster, bigger, cheaper" approach to food is slowly draining dry our planet's resources and compromising our health. The Earth's soil is depleting at more than 13 percent the rate it can be replaced, and we’ve already lost 75 percent of the world's crop varieties over the last century. Corn, soybeans, wheat, and to some degree rice, are the most common crops grown with monocropping techniques. In fact, corn, wheat and rice now account for 60 percent of human caloric intake, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

According to an articleon GreenFudge.org, monoculture is detrimental to the environment for a number of reasons, including the following:
 * It damages soil ecology by depleting and reducing the diversity of soil nutrients
 * It creates an unbuffered niche for parasitic species to take over, making crops more vulnerable to opportunistic pathogens that can quickly wipe out an entire crop
 * It increases dependency on chemical pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics and genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
 * It increases reliance on expensive specialized farm equipment and machinery that require heavy use of fossil fuels
 * It destroys biodiversity

By contrast, polyculture (the traditional rotation of crops and livestock) better serves both land and people. Polyculture evolved to meet the complete nutritional needs of a local community. Polyculture, when done mindfully, automatically replenishes what is taken out, which makes it sustainable with minimal effort.

THE LABELLING OF GMO PRODUCTS:

GMO labelling was introduced to give consumers the freedom to choose between GMOs and conventional products. Essentially, if a foodstuff is produced using genetic engineering, this must be indicated on its label. 

As of June 14, 2010, new regulations regarding the labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food have been enacted in Malaysia through amendments to the Food Regulations under the Food Act 1983.

These regulations are in accordance with provisions found in the Biosafety Act of Malaysia that require the identification and labeling of living modified organisms (LMOs), which itself has been enacted as part of Malaysia’s responsibilities as asignatory to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on BiologicalDiversity of the United Nations.

The Challenges Ahead: Safe & Sustainable Vegetable Farming

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

THE CHALLENGES AHEAD: SAFE & SUSTAINABLE VEGETABLE FARMING

(Image reproduced from The Star, 13 Dec 2012, without permission but in accordance with the principles of fair use)

Once every few years, the media will report of rampant land clearing, water pollution, use of banned pesticides and environmental degradation in the Cameron Highlands as a result of intensive agricultural activity (Cameron Highlands in terrible shape due to land clearing and water pollution, The Star, Dec 11 2012).

This draws attention to the challenges of reconciling food security with environmental integrity. In their research paper published in 2009, Drs. CJ Barrow, Chan Ngai Weng and Tarmiji Masron had pointed out that the expansion and intensification of farming in the Cameron Highlands had seriously polluted streams and groundwater with sediment, manure-enriched runoff, agrichemicals and sewage. The same report found that large numbers of vegetable growers were reported to be using banned pesticides imported from Thailand and other countries, as illegal agrichemicals are seen by the farmers to be cheaper and more effective. In addition, the preference for uncomposted chicken manure over chemical fertilisers by the vegetable farmers of Cameron Highlands has resulted in an increase of pathogens, veterinary pharmaceuticals and faecal pollution in streams, groundwater and produce.

It is acknowledged that stronger enforcement is necessary to monitor illegal land-clearing activities and mitigate environmental damage caused by the vegetable farmers in Cameron Highlands (Uphill task to ensure farmers do what’s right, the Star, Dec 11 2012). Yet there is so much more that consumers, retailers and policymakers could do to improve environmental quality and food health and safety standards.

In the aforementioned 2009 research paper, it was averred that media and legislation have had “less effect” in reducing agrichemical use than supermarket checks of produce. Supermarkets and major food retailers have a high level of influence and control over food quality and safety. Major retailers are therefore urged to ensure that their vegetable supply comes from farms which reach accepted health and safety standards and is checked for pesticide use and residues. Certification schemes such as the “Assured Produce” scheme practiced in the United Kingdom would help promote safer and more environmentally responsible methods of vegetable farming among major vegetable farms in Malaysia. Supermarkets should prohibit the use of banned pesticides by vegetable farms that supply produce to them, and make public the results of their own microbial and pesticide residue testing in a way that is accessible to the average consumer to enable consumers to make informed choices, bearing in mind that not everyone has the advantage or leverage of choosing organic over conventional produce.

Vegetable farms should be given incentives (such as accreditation) for employing responsible practices, such as drip irrigation to conserve water use and crop rotation to improve soil quality, and for meeting best management practices for pesticide storage and use. All manure used should be properly composted and incorporated into soil to prevent microbial contamination. To minimise pest damage, farmers could be educated on methods such as constructing protective barriers, encouraging biological pest control, choosing pest-resistant crop varieties and the use of “trap crops” to lure pests away from main crops. Regulations must be implemented to minimise pesticide drift to other crops and off-site areas and to halt pesticide applications during rainy and windy seasons.

Measures taken by the authorities apart from enforcement measures against farmers could include creating sediment traps to capture contaminated runoffs before they flow into streams, perhaps by way of constructing reed or water hyacinth beds. Buffer zones should be demarcated around sensitive zones. All potential sources of contamination should be identified and eliminated, or at least managed.

Food security and safety are public policy issues, and sound public policy decisions require an understanding of long-term social, environmental as well as economic consequences. Rising environmental literacy, changing consumer preferences, legislation and enforcement are all powerful forces that have the potential to create advances in agriculture that do not compromise human or environmental safety.

  

WONG EE LYNN

COORDINATOR, GREEN LIVING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY (MNS)

Water and Food Security

PENCINTA ALAM JUNE 2012
ECO KIDS COLUMN

WATER AND FOOD SECURITY
(Compiled and edited by Wong Ee Lynn
gl.mnselangor@yahoo.com)

On the occasion of World Water Day, 22nd March 2012, the United Nations produced a series of educational posters called "Water For Food", to show the relationship between food production and water use.

Water is part of any production process. We need water to grow apples as well as to produce a packet of chips. It takes only 25 litres of water, for instance, to produce 1 potato, but 2,400 litres of water to produce 1 hamburger. A litre of bottled drinking water (often mistakenly referred to as "mineral water") requires 3 litres of water to produce. The food we choose to consume, therefore, has a large impact on how much water the world needs to produce food to feed the planet. Vegetable, grain and fruit-based foods generally need less water to produce than meat-based foods.

Have a look at these posters and see if the statistics surprise you. What can you do to reduce the amount of water needed to produce your food? Perhaps you can be more diligent about bringing your own drinking water from home rather than buy bottled water from the shops. Perhaps you can choose to eat more fruits and vegetables instead of meat. Perhaps you could opt for plain water instead of coffee or carbonated drinks. Having the knowledge of how much water is needed to produce a particular food item or beverage means you can make better choices for the benefit of the environment.