Diet can take world to the next level of change by Administrator

There are several things I propose when talking about climate-friendly diet. 1) We should optimize the process of planting, such as reducing the use of pesticide, popularizing soilless culture, etc. 2) We should stop eating wild animals. 3) The improper actions, such as hunting the whales, should be forbidden and surpervised by all the people around the world. 4) We should try our best to stop wasting food. 5) We should buy more local vegetables and fruits, instead of the ones that are beautifully packaged in the supermarket.

I have mentioned in the article about the local poroduction and consumption model of diet. I think we cannot ask indigenous hunters and gatherers to stop hunting wild animals, but to understand how they have been able to maintain the ecological balance till date. I believe its not about stop eating, but about bring human needs to self productiona and consumption.

Climate is changing no doubt and earth has its own carrying capacity,it can manage its tolerance level.The thing is that we should take precautionary measures to protect ourselves because we have created this situation so we have to worry about that and tackle the problems. When we talk about the climate change is due to green house gas emission ,the question is that who are emitting this GHG ,nothing to wonder we the human being,major emitter of this GHG.Day by day changing our diet pattern,nonscientific way of exploiting the natural resources has brought this suffocating environment in which we are living today.So its our duty to solve this problem if we really want to survive on this earth and make the sustainable environment and develop a model which are economically affordable,socially acceptable and environmentally bearable.

1. Introduction 1.1. More than 10 million children age less than 5 years die every year in low-income and middle-income countries. Since 1990–2001, the number of child deaths fell by 1.1% every year, compared with 2.5% per year during 1960–90. In the year 2000 about 34% of child deaths occur in south Asia. India is a hungry country, as more than 2.5 lakh children die in India every year. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Report on Hunger 2006 pegs the number of malnourished in India at 212 million and estimates that between 20 and 34 per cent of our population is malnourished. In India the 1998–99 national family health survey found that in Madhya Pradesh (an Indian state) the mortality rates for children younger than 5 years is 137•6 per 1000 births. Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED) among Adults is also found to be above 40 per cent in Madhya Pradesh. 2. Discourses of issues 2.1. Malnutrition does not exist in vacuum; it has multi-dimensional impacts on social and environmental aspects. Chronic poverty and malnutrition are interdependent. CED among mothers adversely affects the nutritional status of children, which, in turn, affects their educational attainment, human capital, morbidity and labor productivity. Development initiatives have experienced that income is the only instrument that can break the vicious circle of chronic poverty and malnutrition, however with low productivity of labor and weak human capital development process cannot be secured. 2.2. The demand of non-food items in India is on a rise, due to the increase in the per capita income of the population in the country and due to the change in the food habits of the increasing population. The cereal consumption has fallen from 15.35 to 12.7 kg/per capita/month during 1970-71 and 1999-00 and from 11.4 to 10.4 kg/per capita/month in rural & urban areas respectively. This is majorly due to the change in the food consumption pattern in the country and not because of the lack of the production. This has not only impacted the calorie intake but also the agricultural practices in the country. 2.3. Food tastes have shifted to higher meat consumption to meet the calorie demand. The estimated meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, leading to major environmental hazards. The irony is that these dismal facts and statistics coexist with record production of food grains. This increased food production is due to the pan India agriculture programme known as Green Revolution. But in the long run, the policies pursued under the Green Revolution greatly undermined Indian agriculture. 2.4. Rural communities lost control over indigenous seeds they were sowing in their lands, and became dependent on traders, moneylenders, and middlemen for most of the agricultural inputs; the progressively high doses of pesticides and fertilizers led to poisoned soils; agricultural bio-diversity was decimated, and nutritional deficiencies got further accentuated, especially in rural India. All these factors together precipitated an agrarian crisis that saw more than 200,000 farmers, mostly in arid and semi-arid regions, committing suicide. 3. Core Strategies for climate friendly diet 3.1. The world population is increasing at a very high rate. Moreover, the major contribution of population would come from the developing world especially Africa and Asia. As we are aware of the fact that the majority population of these developing countries live in the rural areas, thus strategic shift of diet patterns should also emphasize the rural communities of the world. Below are the two suggested strategies for improving the world diet pattern and fight environmental challenges like climate change. 3.2. Public Distribution System was created with an intention to provide food to the poor communities, especially needed to lead a dignified life. Analyses have indicated that rice, wheat and sugar account for 75 per cent of all items purchased from PDS outlets in rural areas. The nutritional needs could not be met from within their villages and lands, rural households were compelled to meet them from markets; with the result, more than 55 per cent of the monthly per capita expenditure incurred by rural households is towards food. This is where the current PDS has lost its edge. 3.3. In the light of these arguments and upcoming environmental challenges like climate change, there is a need for advocacy of decentralizing the PDS the developing world. The decentralized Public Distribution System is reimagined; one that is democratic can resolve the issues of ecological balance, meaningful consumption and emphasizes nutritional deficiencies. 3.4. The concept of decentralized PDS lays emphasis on the participation of people — especially the marginalized and women — and on a holistic approach that integrates biodiversity, natural resource management, rural livelihoods and empowerment. The inclusion of local indigenous knowledge and expertise at every stage would make such a PDS truly participatory. Such a PDS would focus on the food crops that are locally produced. In some locations this might be millets, while in others it might be endemic varieties of rice and wheat. The storage of these grains would also be undertaken by the local communities, at village or panchayat level, thus reducing storage and transport costs, and generating employment for a few rural households. Being transportation one of the major contributions of methane emission, this strategy of self-management and consumption would reduce the emission by a big factor. 3.5. The second important strategy would be the revival of traditional agricultural systems which would diversify the range of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables available to the rural communities. The combination of such crops would ensure that the nutritional needs of the communities are locally met at a reasonable price. This is likely to enable rural households to spend less on food and use the money thus saved for other purposes. Further, the in-built risk-mitigation properties of such agricultural systems enhance the capacities of rural households to cope with the phenomenon of climate change.

I believe that we have ample technologies in the lab, thus process of lab to land should be focused and we need to understand that how we can make people believe in the importance of these technologies. It should basically be accepted by the community to really make changes. I believe more varities and more efficiency brings a very capitalist view, therefore the proposal should look into the existing advanced technologies and TEKs which are acceptable and practiced.

The exciting thing about this area is that the behaviour which you want to achieve is more enjoyable than the behaviour which you want to move away from. How is this? The big sources of greenhouse gas emissions from food production are the farming of meat and dairy. So if people can substantially cut down on consuming meat and dairy, then emissions should also fall quite significantly. The great thing is that vegan eating is inspiring and delicious! So there is at least as much carrot as stick. Eating fresh, delicious vegan or vegetarian food, with clean conscience, and knowing that you will be much healthier as a result ... that's not a bad way to be green! The second thing is that the horror of animal cruelty practised across in the meat and dairy industry is a very powerful motivator for people to cut down on these products. Once people actually see what happens to a cow raised for milking, a pig raised for slaughter, a one-day old chick that was unlucky enough to be male ... when people see this, then it hits them in the gut and in the heart and creates a strong momentum. A big challenge in this matter is to help meat and dairy farmers find alternative incomes and not make them feel like pariahs or in denial. But there is tremendous opportunity across the gamut of technology: from high tech meat alternatives, to growing almonds for making almond milk, to creating delicious vegan sauces to make your veg dish a bit brighter. The commercial opportunity is immense.