Cool the planet bite by bite!

I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay tribute to their history, culture and ongoing contribution to our communities.

On behalf of the Greens thanks and congratulations to Lauren and all the organisers of the Sydney Vegan Expo. This is a huge undertaking.

Many of us here are on a journey – exploring how to remove animal products from our diet. Some of us are already vegans and vegetarians, but I believe we are all on this journey – there is always more to learn and more to do.

Evidence from the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the CSIRO, Sydney University and many other researchers reveals that reducing and eliminating animal products in our diet is a good news story not only for one’s own health but also for the health of our planet.

Today I would like to share some of that evidence with you and then consider the biggest challenge – how do we encourage people to change their lifestyle and their diet.

Ian Lowe, President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and arguably Australia’s leading environmentalist, is clear on the importance of a meat-free diet. He has stated:

“There is no doubt that reducing consumption of meat, especially red meat, is one of the most effective things the individual can do to reduce their greenhouse gas pollution.”

But humanity’s consumption of meat is doing a lot more to the environment. As well as driving up greenhouse gas emissions, this industry is now associated with deforestation, erosion, fresh water scarcity, air and water pollution, biodiversity loss, social injustice and the spread of disease.

Now this list is full on! It is confronting and challenging and the problem is expanding.

Per-capita meat consumption has more than doubled in the past half century. This is putting escalating pressure on the availability of water, land, feed, fertilizer, fuel and waste disposal capacity.

While the extent of environmental damage associated with the meat industry is considerable, the link with climate change is the issue that could well be the trigger to make more people start the journey away from a meat diet.

In Australia, meat production is responsible for 18 per cent of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and of this the bulk is from the production of read meat. 86 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from the meat sector come from beef cattle production of which two-thirds are attributable to land clearing in northern Australia and one third due to methane emissions from the animals.

This information is from an excellent report produced by the CSIRO and Sydney University called the Balancing Act. The impact on natural resources is also set out in this report. Every dollar’s worth of beef at the farm gate not only causes 26.7 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions it also uses 731 litres of water and contributes to the ongoing disturbance of 187 square metres of land.

And this problem is set to get worse with demand for Australian meat among the burgeoning middle classes in South-East Asia set to rise dramatically.

It is worth understanding why meat is such a heavy energy user. The problem goes far beyond what comes out of cattle. At every stage, meat production uses vast amounts of energy – shipping and trucking the grain, and moving the cattle to market. The abattoir uses energy, refrigeration uses energy.

Transporting grain and other vegetable products obviously also uses energy but the environment footprint for meat eaters is much greater than for vegetarians and vegans.

After climate change, the major impact on the world’s water resources is probably the next major problem associated with the meat industry. Abattoir waste water and piggery effluent is some of the most highly polluted water in the world, requiring extensive treatment before release or reuse.

Water quality is determined by the BOD measurement. That is, the Biological Oxygen Demand, which is the amount of oxygen required by bacteria for the decomposition of organic matter in five days at a standard temperature.

The BOD for human sewerage is between 300 and 500 mg per litre. Piggery effluent has a BOD of more than 5,000 mg per litre, so it is no surprise that the US Environmental Protection Agency has reported that livestock waste has polluted more than 27,000 miles of rivers and contaminated ground water in dozens of states in the United States.

Run-off from farming land in too many areas is a growing bad news story. This environment disaster is causing dead zones in the world’s oceans and is a reminder of the need to minimise the use of fertilisers, particularly products high in nitrogen and phosphorous.

The dead zones are caused by excess chemicals used in fertilisers washed down rivers and into the oceans. The biggest dead zone occurs in the Mexican Gulf and it has reached a size of 7,000 sq miles. It is caused by nutrient run-off coming down the Mississippi River.

About 150 dead zones have been reported around the world with a number now occurring in Australia. The United Nations Environmental Program reports that Australia has two internationally recognised dead zones, both found in the Tasman Sea off South Eastern Australia.

As well as these, Australian scientists have identified a number of additional dead zones in rivers, estuaries and coastal lagoons such as the Tuggerah Lakes, Swan River and Gippsland Lakes.

On top of the greenhouse gas emissions and polluted water, the meat industry has other negative environmental impacts.

40 percent of the world’s rainforest have been cleared or burned down in the last 40 years. This has mainly been for beef production. In many low-income countries, locals have also lost productive agricultural land to cattle ranchers that export their product overseas.

 This is a series of bad news stories. So what do we do? How do we encourage people to reassess their lifestyle and to start the journey away from animal product diets?

Many of the figures that I have given are daunting. But I always feel positive about the potential for change even in the face of the adversity of aggressive agri-business and powerful fast food companies.

In my lifetime, I have already seen an enormous change in this area. When I was a young teenager – 40 years ago – there was only one vegetarian restaurant in Sydney – near Hyde Park on Liverpool St. The word vegan was unknown to many of us young vegetarians.

The changes in those 40 years have been huge. Finding vegan and vegetarian meals is becoming easier and our numbers are certainly increasing. That’s a good sign as we face the challenge to link the wellbeing of our planet, of all species, of all ecosystems, with food consumption.

But for the moment we need to acknowledge that the link between diet and environmental damage, and in particular meat consumption and climate change, has barely registered with the public. This is what we have to change.

But we also need to be frank – to date the environment movement has not incorporated the impact of the meat industry into their many campaigns. This issue is being pushed into the public debate by animal welfare, vegan and vegetarian groups. I congratulate those groups – they have done an excellent job. But we have to win more allies in this work.

Our voice needs to be stronger and more varied and I think there is clearly a place for environment groups and I also acknowledge the need for the Greens Party to step up their work in this area.

The fact that environment groups are not campaigning to reduce meat consumption highlights the difficulties in getting people to change their diet.

In the past, the arguments for a vegan or vegetarian diet were linked in the main with animal welfare, and one’s own health. Now we know on ecological and economic grounds there is a  wealth of additional reasons to change one’s diet.

Another part of the food debate needs to ensure that our food is sourced locally and that there is truth in labelling. There is a big environmental plus if produce does not have to be shipped and trucked half-way ‘round the world or across the continent.

Seasons should not just be about changing weather patterns. They should also mean change in food availability. There is a wonderful worldwide initiative – the Slow Food movement – which encourages traditional preparation for leisurely communal meals.

This movement shows how people are willing to change their eating habits. Over the past 17 years it has gained 65,000 members in 45 countries. It is making a serious contribution to the environment while defending the planet’s cultural and biological diversity.

From what I know this movement does not have a strong non-meat component but still it helps show that people will readily change their diet when presented with a good alternative.

I have to say for me that a vegan, slow food diet sounds like a great way to reconstruct the speedy, high meat-protein life-style.

Today’s event is a wonderful example of how we can spread the word – to individuals, to decision makers, to environment groups. I urge that when you leave here today you go with a commitment to start up a conversation about diet and climate change. We need more people to join our journey to a meat-free diet.

These days, governments are educating people about reducing their water and energy use. Part of that package should also contain suggestions on how to reduce the amount of animal products in one’s diet.

The spin-offs are enormous – for the rights of animals, for clean water, for reduced greenhouse gas emissions, for reduced local environmental damage, and for our good health.

Have a wonderful Vegan Expo – may there be many more!