Tofu Can Harm The Environment More Than meat!, page 1

The first instalment, Sorry, Vegans: Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too, which focused on the "morality of consuming animals in its comparison to the consumption of plants, as well as the science and legitimacy of "just how alive are plants?", went very well. Many thought provoking arguments were provided from both sides of the coin.

.....and so the 2nd instalment begins.

Moral vegetarians and Nutritional Vegetarians should feel free to join the discussion; however, this second instalment will focus primarily on the article provided and the Political/Environmental issues it examines. Specifically, the following debate should address the fundamental argument of vegetarians vs. omnivores from an environmental/political perspective.

Tofu can harm environment more than meat!

Becoming a vegetarian can do more harm to the environment than continuing to eat red meat, according to a study of the impacts of meat substitutes such as tofu.

The findings undermine claims by vegetarians that giving up meat automatically results in lower emissions and that less land is needed to produce food.

The study by Cranfield University, commissioned by the environmental group WWF, found that many meat substitutes were produced from soy, chickpeas and lentils that were grown overseas and imported into Britain.

It found that switching from beef and lamb reared in Britain to meat substitutes would result in more foreign land being cultivated and raise the risk of forests being destroyed to create farmland. Meat substitutes also tended to be highly processed and involved energy-intensive production methods.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

There's no avoiding the fact that humans will have an impact on their environment, but they can try and shrink that footprint. The whole "Going Green" mantra has caught on and it seems like it's not going away anytime soon. Companies are now using the environment as a marketing tool....that includes food producers.

So...let's weed through the BS and see if we can't find a legit answer to the question: Which is more "Going Green'; Vegetarianism or Ominvorism?

Let's keep this a civil discussion, folks.

-Dev