The increased number of people suffering from malnutrition has prompted the emergence of new technological measures to improve food production. This has also been done to keep abreast with the ever swelling population pressure hence increased needs. This has not happened without its share of misgivings on man’s health and environment. All these have prompted the emergence of new methods of analyzing the impact of these processes on man’s environment. For instance is the LCA (life circle assessment) method.
This method asses the environmental impact of the three main eating patterns i. e. vegetarians, omnivorous and vegans. The four main phases of the LCA method includes; goal and scoping, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment and life cycle interpretation and Improvement. Three balanced diets for vegan, vegetarians and omnivorous for three weeks are first formulated. The three diets should be equal in nutrient content and energy. The three dietary patterns are further grouped into those produced through conventional agriculture and organic agriculture.
Relevant data is collected and analysed. In life cycle impact assessment the products in each of the identified dietary patterns are given arbitrary weights depending on their effects on the environment. Both individual perspective, hierachical and egalitarian perspectives have been used to explain the dimensional weights of the products. Recommendations and finally conclusions are made. Results are generated in the form of points. The higher the points the higher the negative impact on the environment (Baroni, 2007).
LCA findings have found that with the same method of production, unbalanced diets have the greatest impact on the environment as compared to the balanced ones. That the same applies to the higher consumption of animal products, translating into more environmental damage than the utilization of plant sources of food. From these findings it’s therefore in order to say that foods produced through chemical convention agriculture and conventional farming, have the greatest impact on the environment.
Instead of focusing on the adverse effects, it’s important to identify the slight changes in eating patterns that can ensure the greatest environmental benefits. This can majorly be achieved by a change in eating habits. A shift from consumption of animal products to the consumption of plant products is the way out because the use of meat, fish, cheese and milk has been found to have the greatest impact on the environment. Eutrophication processes also cannot be underestimated.
Animal wastes as well as the chemicals used in agriculture like the pesticides also have severe effects on the environment. Reliance on animal products has also resulted in deforestation since forest lands are cleared to pave way for animal domestication (Pimentel & Pimentel, 2003). The same square meter of land can produce more proteins for human consumption than for animal consumption. All these point to the fact that vegan diet still tops as the most environmentally safe dietary pattern. The production of animal food also takes a lot of fuel.
Animal domestication takes a lot of water hence are responsible for the fast depletion of the fresh water reserves. Plant derived diets are therefore environmentally friendly than those from animals. All in all I agree with the findings of the study about ‘Sustainability of plant based and meat based diets and the environment,’ that meat based diets have a greater strain on the environment than plant based diets. However, encouraging people to be vegetarians would not be in the best interest of their health as far as optimal nutrition and meeting their nutritional requirements is concerned.
Man was meant to be omnivorous by nature. What needs to be stressed is a balanced diet that incorporates both meat based foods and plant based foods. Over reliance on either meat based or plant based diets has its own consequences on health and should not be encouraged. This is because there are some nutrients that are abundant in animal products but are found in very limited amounts in plant based foods and vice versa. An example is calcium which is found abundantly in milk and in very limited amount in grains and cabbage.
A lot of emphasis should not be laid on the environment than human health itself. Man and the environment should co-exist synergistically without a lot of strain being put on one at the expense of the other.
References
Baroni, L. , Cenci, L. , & Berati, M. (2007). Evaluating the environmental impact. European journal of Clinical Nutrition, 61,279-286. Pimentel, D. , & Pimentel, M. (2003). Sustainability of meat based and plant based diets and the environment. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,78, 660s-3s. Retrieved from www. ajcn. org on February 15 2009.